Chauvaud L. auteur aut IRD Lorrain A. auteur aut IRD Dunbar R. B. auteur aut IRD Paulet Y. M. auteur aut IRD Thouzeau G. auteur aut IRD Jean F. auteur aut IRD Guarini J. M. auteur aut IRD Mucciarone D. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng We investigate the environmental and biological controls on oxygen isotope ratios in the shells of modern Pecten maximus bivalves collected alive in the Bay of Brest (France). Seasonal delta(18)O profiles, obtained by drilling the daily calcite ridges deposited at the surface of the left valve, were compared with in situ measurements of temperature and salinity. We show that P. maximus delta(18)O values accurately track seasonal variations in bottom water temperature. Shell growth rate has no significant effect on shell delta(18)O values. Our study demonstrates that daily variations in water temperature can be reconstructed within about 0.5 degrees C. Temperatures estimated with the paleotemperature equation established in this study were compared with temperatures derived from previously published equations. The comparison indicates that the most commonly used paleotemperature equation for biogenic calcite (Epstein et al., 1953) provides inaccurate temperature estimates, but the Kim and O'Neil (1997) equation, established from abiogenic calcite precipitation, provides results very similar to ours and should therefore be used for scallop individuals coming from populations where proper empirical calibration cannot be done. Pecten maximus bivalves precipitate calcite in isotopic equilibrium with seawater, produce large daily growth striae, are stenohaline, and are well preserved in archeological and geological deposits, making them an excellent high-frequency archive of paleoenvironmental change. specialized bivalve biogenic calcite isotopes oxygen shell growth rate temperature oceanography : general : diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles oceanography : biological and chemical : geochemistry oceanography : biological and chemical : stable isotopes 6 NIL_1-NIL_15 2005 1525-2027 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00000389 10.1029/2004GC000890 1525-2027 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00000389 IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2006-03-29 2017-08-23 PAR00000389 fre