CARDIFF, Wales, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- New analysis of the world's longest-living species, the quahog clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, has offered scientists a 1,000-year chemical history of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists from Cardiff University and Bangor University compiled a history of the ocean by studying the growth rings in the shells of quahog clams. By comparing their observations to different climate records -- including historic changes in solar variability, volcanic eruptions and atmospheric air temperatures -- researchers were able to study the relationship between oceanic conditions and climate change.