Periodicities in Pliocene marine climates from the analysis of Glycymeris spp. from the Duplin and Yorktown formations (2016)

Undergraduate: Jonathan Garrick

Faculty Advisor: Joel Hudley
Department: Geology

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Previous paleoclimate studies suggest reduced seasonality and a northward shift of warm water to the Western Atlantic Shelf during the Mid-Pliocene warm period (Williams at al., 2011). This study aims to compare multidecadal sea surface temperature patterns to bivalve growth widths using the well-preserved shells of long-lived Glycymeris spp.. Eighty-eight Glycymeris shells from the Duplin and Yorktown formations were collected and analyzed. Growth width indices were constructed in order to determine variations in sea surface temperature conditions in the Western Atlantic during the Pliocene. Modern analog technique will be performed using sea surface temperature data from NOAA buoys. Continued investigations will utilize spectral analysis, multi-taper method, and Fourier transform to study the periodicities in marine climates.