Giant clam (Tridacna) distribution in the Gulf of Oman in relation to past and future climate.

ABSTRACT: The Oman upwelling zone (OUZ) creates an unfavorable environment and a major biogeographic barrier for many coral reef species, such as giant clams, thus promoting and maintaining faunal differences among reefs on the east and west side of the Arabian Peninsula. We record the former existence of Tridacna in the Gulf of Oman and review its stratigraphic distribution in the Persian Gulf to provide new insights on the connectivity of coral reef habitats around southern Arabia under changing climate and ocean conditions. Fossil shells were carbon-14 dated and employed as sclerochronological proxy archives. This reveals that the Omani population represents a last glacial colonization event during the Marine Isotope Stage 3 interstadial under colder-than-present temperatures and variable upwelli

SUBMITTER: Reuter M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9529976 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature