The Usefulness of Bivalve Stable Isotope Profiles as Environmental Indicators: Data from the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Southern Caribbean Sea

Abstract

We constructed stable isotope profiles for 16 Recent venerid bivalve shells from four environmental regions in the eastern tropical Pacific and the southwestern Caribbean. The environments sampled were: 1) the Gulf of Chiriqui, a nonupwelling region in the eastern Pacific; 2) Panama Bay, an upwelling region in the eastern Pacific; 3) the Caribbean non-upwelling region of northern Panama and northwestern Colombia west of Cartegena; and 4) the Caribbean upwelling region of northern Colombia east of Cartagena and the northern Gulf of Venezuela. The four environments are generally well-characterized by the shell profiles. In particular, the 6180 range is greatest in upwelling environments, and, to a lesser extent, is greater in the eastern Pacific than in the Caribbean.