Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Paleoceanography 23 (2008): PA3102, doi:10.1029/2007PA001572.
Description:
We analyzed strontium/calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) in four colonies of the Atlantic coral genus Montastrea with growth rates ranging from 2.3 to 12.6 mm a−1. Derived Sr/Ca–sea surface temperature (SST) calibrations exhibit significant differences among the four colonies that cannot be explained by variations in SST or seawater Sr/Ca. For a single coral Sr/Ca ratio of 8.8 mmol mol−1, the four calibrations predict SSTs ranging from 24.0° to 30.9°C. We find that differences in the Sr/Ca–SST relationships are correlated systematically with the average annual extension rate (ext) of each colony such that Sr/Ca (mmol mol−1) = 11.82 (±0.13) – 0.058 (±0.004) × ext (mm a−1) – 0.092 (±0.005) × SST (°C). This observation is consistent with previous reports of a link between coral Sr/Ca and growth rate. Verification of our growth-dependent Sr/Ca–SST calibration using a coral excluded from the calibration reconstructs the mean and seasonal amplitude of the actual recorded SST to within 0.3°C. Applying a traditional, nongrowth-dependent Sr/Ca–SST calibration derived from a modern Montastrea to the Sr/Ca ratios of a conspecific coral that grew during the early Little Ice Age (LIA) (400 years B.P.) suggests that Caribbean SSTs were 〉5°C cooler than today. Conversely, application of our growth-dependent Sr/Ca–SST calibration to Sr/Ca ratios derived from the LIA coral indicates that SSTs during the 5-year period analyzed were within error (±1.4°C) of modern values.
Description:
This work was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant OCE-
0402728, the WHOI Ocean and Climate Change Institute, and an NSF
Graduate Student Fellowship.
Keywords:
Coral
;
Strontium/calcium
;
Growth rate
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
