SciencePhys.orgOne giant clam contains a month‑by‑month diary of the Great Barrier Reef's climate 200 years ago
Researchers read the shell of a giant clam from the Great Barrier Reef like a diary, reconstructing month-by-month climate conditions from 200 years ago.
When you swim through the azure waters of the Great Barrier Reef, there is one creature on the seafloor that's almost impossible to miss: the giant clam. Its huge, fluted shell frames a soft mantle shimmering with electric blue, green and gold.
Scientists used the shell chemistry of a giant clam from Jiigurru, also known as Lizard Island, to reconstruct reef climate conditions going back 200 years.
Giant clams record daily and seasonal growth lines in their shells, similar to tree rings, allowing researchers to read temperature changes month by month.
The research, published in Global and Planetary Change, helps fill a major gap in Southern Hemisphere climate records from before the industrial era.
The study found pre-industrial summers at Lizard Island were cooler than today, while winters were surprisingly similar, adding rare detail to Southern Hemisphere climate records.
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