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Science 22 January 1965:
Vol. 147. no. 3656, pp. 398 - 400
DOI: 10.1126/science.147.3656.398
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Articles

Ancient Oyster Shells on the Atlantic Continental Shelf

Arthur S. Merrill 1, K. O. Emery 2, and Meyer Rubin 3

1 U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Biological Laboratory, Oxford, Maryland
2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
3 Radiocarbon Laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.

Shells of long-dead Crassostrea virginica are reported at 71 stations in depths of 14 to 82 meters. The depths exceed those of the estuaries where the species flourishes. Radiocarbon measurements indicate that the oysters were alive 8000 to 11,000 years ago. It is concluded that the oysters lived in lagoons or estuaries which became submerged when the sea level rose at the end of the latest glacial epoch.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Freshwater Peat on the Continental Shelf.
K. O. Emery, K. O. Emery, R. L. Wigley, A. S. Bartlett, M. Rubin, and E. S. Barghoorn (1967)
Science 158, 1301-1307
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sea Levels 7,000 to 20,000 Years Ago.
K. O. Emery, K. O. Emery, and L. E. Garrison (1967)
Science 157, 684-687
   Abstract »    PDF »
Elephant Teeth from the Atlantic Continental Shelf.
F. C. Whitmore, F. C. Whitmore Jr., K. O. Emery, H. B. S. Cooke, and D. J. P. Swift (1967)
Science 156, 1477-1481
   Abstract »    PDF »


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