StripesCounter: A new image software for increment measurement in paleoclimate archives

ABSTRACT Most natural paleoclimate archives are accretionary material presenting periodic structures that bear environmental and/or chronological information. Here we present StripesCounter, an open access Python software designed for automated banding detection and measurement. As a study case, 16-year long profiles of daily growth increment measurements were conducted on a modern shell of the giant clam Tridacna gigas. High resolution images of shell thin sections were obtained using a confocal laser scanning microscopy and processed using StripesCounter. We demonstrate that StripesCounter provides highly reproducible and accurate results. The long time series of daily increments indicate that Tridacna gigas growth is strongly modulated by seasonal oceanographic variations, reflecting changes in sea surface temperature, precipitation, and salinity. Notably, growth profiles reveal semi-annual variations related to semi-annual variations in environmental factors, potentially linked to ENSO events. This automated growth increment analysis can be extended to other archives with cyclic structures, including tree rings, corals, and other biogenic or abiotic laminated materials. StripesCounter offers a powerful and accessible tool for generating long high-resolution, temporally explicit datasets, opening new perspectives for investigating rapid environmental changes across diverse ecosystems and geological timescales.