Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research

Aging Mussel Shells

Step 5: Counting the Rings

When the thin section is placed under a microscope the rings stand out clearly enough to be counted. This particular specimen was determined to be 37 years old.

Note that the image above captures only part of the thin section. While the photos below are of a different specimen, the squares illustrate where the rings above would be positioned in relation to both the entire mussel shell and the thin section.