I. Data Set Descriptors A. Title: Carey J. Garland. 2021. Shell geochemistry and environmental instability along the Georgia Coast during the Late Archaic Period (5000 - 3800 BP) . Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER Data Catalog (data set ANT-GCED-2112; http://gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/data/ANT-GCED-2112) B. Accession Number: ANT-GCED-2112 C. Description 1. Originator(s): Name: Carey J. Garland Address: Laboratory of Archaeology Department of Anthropology Athens, Georgia 30602 Country: USA Email: carey.garland@uga.edu 2. Abstract: This dataset includes stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) data collected from eastern oysters (n=19) (Crassostrea virginica) and hard clams (n=59) (Mercenaria spp.) from the Late Archaic (ca. 50000-3500 cal. BP) Sapelo Shell Rings on Sapelo Island, Georgia. A total of 1064 isotope samples were collected and analyzed from these shells. The data are part of a larger project reconstructing paleo-climate and Native American adaption and resilience in the context of climate instability along the South Atlantic coast of North America during the Late Archaic Period. Shell isotope samples were collected by multiple researchers over the last decade. Carey Garland added to and cleaned the data between June 2020 and December 2021. The dataset was structured to include site name, location, and provenience (e.g., unit, level, etc.) associated with each shell analyzed, as well as all raw isotope data. The original database contains sensitive information, such as the specific location of archaeological sites. If a professional archaeologist needs site location information, they can contact the Georgia Archaeological Site File. 3. Study Type: Directed Study 4. Study Themes: Anthropology, Chemistry 5. LTER Core Areas: Population Studies 6. Georeferences: none 7. Submission Date: Dec 03, 2021 D. Keywords: archaeology, chemistry, GCE, Georgia, Georgia Coastal Ecosystems, Holocene, humans, isotopes, LTER, Population Studies, Sapelo Island, USA II. Research Origin Descriptors A. Overall Project Description 1. Project Title: Georgia Coastal Ecosystems LTER - IV 2. Principal Investigators: Name: Merryl Alber Address: Dept. of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602-3636 Country: USA Email: malber@uga.edu 3. Funding Period: Feb 01, 2019 to Jan 31, 2025 4. Objectives: The GCE-LTER project has four goals. 1) Track environmental and human drivers that can cause perturbations in our focal ecosystems. This will be accomplished this through continuing long-term measurements of climate, water chemistry, oceanic exchange, and human activities on the landscape. 2) Describe temporal and spatial variability in physical, chemical, geological and biological characteristics of the study system (coastal wetland complexes) and how they respond to external drivers. This will be accomplished through field monitoring in combination with remote sensing and modeling. 3) Characterize the ecological responses of intertidal marshes to disturbance. This will be accomplished by ongoing monitoring and experimental work to evaluate system responses to major perturbations in three key marsh habitats (changes in inundation and predator exclusion in Spartina-dominated salt marshes; increases in salinity in fresh marshes; changes in runoff in high marshes), by implementing standardized experimental disturbances along salinity and elevation gradients, and by tracking responses to natural disturbances. 4) Evaluate ecosystem properties at the landscape level (habitat distribution, net and gross primary production, C budgets) and assess the cumulative effects of disturbance on these properties. The project will also develop relationships between drivers and response variables, which can be used to predict the effects of future changes. This will be accomplished through a combination of data synthesis, remote sensing and modeling. 5. Abstract: The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems (GCE) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, based at the University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island, Georgia, was established in 2000 to study long-term change in coastal ecosystems. Estuaries (places where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water from the land) and their adjacent marshes provide food and refuge for fish, shellfish and birds; protect the shoreline from storms; help to keep the water clean; and store carbon. The GCE LTER researchers study marshes and estuaries to understand how these ecosystems function, to track how they change over time, and to predict how they might be affected by future changes in climate and human activities. They accomplish this by tracking the major factors that can cause long-term change in coastal areas (e.g. sea level, rainfall, upstream development), and measuring the effects of these factors on the study site. They also conduct focused studies to assess how key marsh habitats will respond to major changes expected in the future, including large-scale experiments to evaluate the effects of a) increases in the salinity of the water that floods freshwater marshes (mimicking drought and/or sea level rise), b) changes in water runoff from land into the upland marsh border (mimicking drought or upland development), and c) exclusion of larger organisms in the salt marsh (mimicking long-term declines in predators). During this award they will initiate additional studies to systematically evaluate how coastal wetlands respond to disturbances. Disturbances, or disruptions in the environment, are particularly important to understand in the context of long-term background changes such as increasing sea level, and GCE researchers are working to assess the cumulative effects of multiple disturbances on the landscape. The GCE education and outreach program works to share an understanding of coastal ecosystems with teachers and students, coastal managers, citizen scientist and the general public. 6. Funding Source: NSF OCE 1832178 B. Sub-project Description 1. Site Description a. Geographic Location: Sapelo -- Sapelo Island, Sapelo Island, Georgia Shell_Ring -- Shell_Ring Coordinates: Sapelo -- NW: 081 18 28.72 W, 31 32 10.93 N NE: 081 10 34.26 W, 31 32 10.93 N SE: 081 10 34.26 W, 31 22 48.54 N SW: 081 18 28.72 W, 31 22 48.54 N Shell_Ring -- 81 14 39.6 W, 31 30 53.4 N b. Physiographic Region: Sapelo -- unspecified Shell_Ring -- unspecified c. Landform Components: Sapelo -- Barrier island Shell_Ring -- unspecified d. Hydrographic Characteristics: Sapelo -- unspecified Shell_Ring -- unspecified e. Topographic Attributes: Sapelo -- unspecified Shell_Ring -- unspecified f. Geology, Lithology and Soils: Sapelo -- unspecified Shell_Ring -- unspecified g. Vegetation Communities: Sapelo -- Salt marsh vegetation on the island exterior (dominated by Spartina alterniflora), transitioning to marsh meadow and maritime forest on the island interior Shell_Ring -- unspecified h. History of Land Use and Disturbance: none recorded i. Climate: Climate summary for Sapelo Island, Georgia, based on NWS data from 1980-2010: Daily-aggregated Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) mean air temperature: 20.09°C (7.28°C) minimum air temperature: 15.02°C (7.96°C) maximum air temperature: 24.82°C (6.98°C) total precipitation: 3.26mm (10.3mm) Yearly-aggregated Daily Values: Mean (sample standard deviation) total precipitation (1980-2010): 1124mm (266mm) 2. Experimental or Sampling Design a. Design Characteristics: not specified b. Permanent Plots: not specified c. Data Collection Duration and Frequency: not specified Beginning of Observations: Jun 01, 2020 End of Observations: Dec 01, 2021 3. Research Methods a. Field and Laboratory Methods: Method Step 1 -- Left oyster valves with a complete chondrophore and clam shells with an intact edge were selected for analysis. Shells with epibiont activity were excluded from analysis as they were likely dead when they were collected. Next, oyster shells were bisected along the chondrophore and clams along their axis of maximum growth. The bisected shells were then mounted onto a slide using CrystalbondTM adhesive and cut into approximately 12.7-mm-thick sections using a slow-speed diamond wafering saw. Each shell was sampled following reverse ontogeny (starting at the ventral margin in clams and growing edge in oysters) using a Grizzly Benchtop micro-milling system. For oysters, sampling targeted internal chalky calcitic areas of each shell hinge and avoided the darker foliated calcite and aragonite regions closer to and on the hinge surface. Sampling trajectories followed growth increments as seen in reflected light (in the chondrophore region of oysters and the middle shell layer in the clams). Oyster samples were taken adjacent to each other at an average of 300-400 mm in width and to a depth of 300-400 mm. For clams, samples were taken from the inner aragonite layers, along the transected margin. Samples were taken sequentially starting at the ventral margin, and were milled to a depth of approximately 0.5-mm. Approximately, 12-20 samples were obtained from each shell, which captured approximately one-year’s worth of growth prior to capture. All samples were analyzed for δ18O and δ13C using a Thermo Gas Bench coupled to a Delta V IRMS with a GC Pal auto-sampler at the University of Georgia’s Center for Applied Isotope Analysis. The weighed samples were first purged of atmosphere with helium and acidified with phosphoric acid to convert solid carbonates to CO2 gas. The target gas was then concentrated as a frozen solid within a loop submerged in a liquid nitrogen bath. After which, the gas was released back into the helium carrier gas to the IRMS. The values for each sample are reported in parts per mil (‰). b. Protocols: none c. Instrumentation: none d. Taxonomy and Systematics: not applicable e. Speclies List: f. Permit History: not applicable 4. Project Personnel a. Personnel: 1: Carey J. Garland 2: Victor D. Thompson 3: Matt Sanger 4: Karen Y Smith 5: Fred T Andrus 6: Nathan R Lawres 7: Katharine Napora 8: Carol E Colaninno 9: J Matthew Compton 10: Sharyn Jones 11: Carla S Hadden 12: Alexander Cherkinsky 13: Yi-Ting Deng 14: Thomas Maddox 15: Isabelle H Lulewicz b. Affiliations: 1: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 2: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 3: Smithsonian Institution 4: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 5: University of Alabama 6: University of West Georgia 7: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 8: Southern Illinois University 9: 8Georgia Southern University 10: 9Northern Kentucky University 11: University of Georgia 12: University of Georgia 13: University of Georgia 14: University of Georgia 15: 11University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign III. Data Set Status and Accessibility A. Status 1. Latest Update: 14-Jan-2022 2. Latest Archive Date: 14-Jan-2022 3. Latest Metadata Update: 14-Jan-2022 4. Data Verification Status: New Submission B. Accessibility 1. Storage Location and Medium: Stored at GCE-LTER Data Management Office Dept. of Marine Sciences Univ. of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-3636 USA on media: electronic data download (WWW) or compact disk 2. Contact Person: Name: Adam Sapp Address: Department of Marine Sciences University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602 Country: USA Email: asapp@uga.edu 3. Copyright Restrictions: not copyrighted 4. Restrictions: This information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The consumer of these data ("Data User" herein) has an ethical obligation to cite it appropriately in any publication that results from its use. The Data User should realize that these data may be actively used by others for ongoing research and that coordination may be necessary to prevent duplicate publication. The Data User is urged to contact the authors of these data if any questions about methodology or results occur. Where appropriate, the Data User is encouraged to consider collaboration or co-authorship with the authors. The Data User should realize that misinterpretation of data may occur if used out of context of the original study. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and associated documentation, complete accuracy of data sets cannot be guaranteed. All data are made available "as is." The Data User should be aware, however, that data are updated periodically and it is the responsibility of the Data User to check for new versions of the data. The data authors and the repository where these data were obtained shall not be liable for damages resulting from any use or misinterpretation of the data. a. Release Date: Affiliates: Dec 03, 2021, Public: Dec 03, 2023 b. Citation: Data provided by the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research Project, supported by funds from NSF OCE 1832178 (data set ANT-GCED-2112) c. Disclaimer: The user assumes all responsibility for errors in judgement based on interpretation of data and analyses presented in this data set. 5. Costs: free electronic data download via WWW, distribution on CD may be subject to nominal processing and handling fee IV. Data Structural Descriptors A. Data Set File 1. File Name: ANT-GCED-2112_1_0.CSV 2. Size: 1065 records 3. File Format: ASCII text (comma-separated value format) 3a. Delimiters: single comma 4. Header Information: 5 lines of ASCII text 5. Alphanumeric Attributes: 6. Quality Control Flag Codes: Q = questionable value, I = invalid value, E = estimated value 7. Authentication Procedures: 8. Calculations: 9. Processing History: Software version: GCE Data Toolbox Version 3.9.9b (06-Mar-2019) Data structure version: GCE Data Structure 1.1 (29-Mar-2001) Original data file processed: ANT-GCED-2112.txt (1065 records) Data processing history: 14-Jan-2022: new GCE Data Structure 1.1 created ('newstruct') 14-Jan-2022: 1065 rows imported from ASCII data file 'ANT-GCED-2112.txt' ('imp_ascii') 14-Jan-2022: 13 metadata fields in file header parsed ('parse_header') 14-Jan-2022: data structure validated ('gce_valid') 14-Jan-2022: updated 1 metadata fields in the Dataset sections ('addmeta') 14-Jan-2022: imported Dataset, Project, Site, Study, Status, Supplement metadata descriptors from the GCE Metabase ('imp_gcemetadata') 14-Jan-2022: updated 57 metadata fields in the Dataset, Project, Site, Status, Study, Supplement sections ('addmeta') 14-Jan-2022: updated 6 metadata fields in the Data sections ('addmeta') 14-Jan-2022: updated 15 metadata fields in the Status, Data sections to reflect attribute metadata ('updatecols') 14-Jan-2022: parsed and formatted metadata ('listmeta') B. Variable Information 1. Variable Name: column 1. Site column 2. Location column 3. Provenience column 4. Species column 5. Sample identification number column 6. Oxygen_18 column 7. Carbon_13 2. Variable Definition: column 1. Site name column 2. Name of island column 3. Provenience information such as unit, feature (F), and level (LVL) column 4. Mollusk species column 5. Sample identification number column 6. Oxygen Isotope values column 7. Carbon Isotope Values 3. Units of Measurement: column 1. none column 2. none column 3. none column 4. none column 5. none column 6. ppt column 7. ppt 4. Data Type a. Storage Type: column 1. string column 2. string column 3. string column 4. string column 5. string column 6. floating-point column 7. floating-point b. Variable Codes: c. Numeric Range: column 1. (none) column 2. (none) column 3. (none) column 4. (none) column 5. (none) column 6. -5.6 to 2.5 column 7. -8.1 to 2.6 d. Missing Value Code: 5. Data Format a. Column Type: column 1. text column 2. text column 3. text column 4. text column 5. text column 6. numerical column 7. numerical b. Number of Columns: 7 c. Decimal Places: column 1. 0 column 2. 0 column 3. 0 column 4. 0 column 5. 0 column 6. 1 column 7. 1 6. Logical Variable Type: column 1. free text (none) column 2. free text (none) column 3. free text (none) column 4. free text (none) column 5. free text (none) column 6. data (continuous) column 7. data (continuous) 7. Flagging Criteria: column 1. none column 2. none column 3. none column 4. none column 5. none column 6. none column 7. none C. Data Anomalies: V. Supplemental Descriptors A. Data Acquisition 1. Data Forms: 2. Form Location: 3. Data Entry Validation: B. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedures: C. Supplemental Materials: D. Computer Programs: E. Archival Practices: F. Publications: not specified G. History of Data Set Usage 1. Data Request History: not specified 2. Data Set Update History: none 3. Review History: none 4. Questions and Comments from Users: none