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Bivalve clam shell halves

Bivalve clam shell halves
Bivalve clam shell halves
Bivalve clam shell halves
Bivalve clam shell halves
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175818
Keigwin, Lloyd
Bivalve clam shell halves
Still Image
04/18/2006
keigwin-H1bivalve.jpg
Oceanus caption:
17,500-year-old shells from a clam found in North Atlantic seafloor sediment helped WHOI geologist Lloyd Keigwin learn about ocean circulation and climate changes. Clams and other shelled organisms incorporate the chemical characteristics of the deep-ocean water that existed when their shells and skeletons formed.
Image of The Day caption:
In sediments beneath the Sargasso Sea, WHOI geologist Lloyd Keigwin found a 17,500-year-old clamshell and a mystery: Why was this South Atlantic species living in deep water near Bermuda at that time? In fact, previous research has shown that water from the Southern Ocean water once flowed into the North Atlantic. This suggests the Atlantic's heat-distributing "conveyor belt" had slowed or stopped, chilling northern climates and allowing deep water from the far south flow into the deep North Atlantic, carrying with it, among other things, clam larvae. (Photo by Lloyd Keigwin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Photo by Lloyd Keigwin
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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