Not logged in
PANGAEA.
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science

Giry, Cyril; Felis, Thomas; Kölling, Martin; Scheffers, Sander R (2010): Sr/Ca and stable isotope records of Diplora strigosa coral sample BON-9-A from the east coast of Bonaire. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.753140, Supplement to: Giry, C et al. (2010): Geochemistry and skeletal structure of Diploria strigosa, implications for coral-based climate reconstruction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 298, 378-387, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.10.022

Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.

RIS CitationBibTeX CitationShow MapGoogle Earth

Abstract:
Geochemical tracers incorporated into the skeleton of reef-building corals are ideal proxies for reconstructing environmental parameters of ambient seawater such as temperature and salinity at subseasonal resolution. However, validation concerns of these environmental proxies due to the complex skeleton of some tropical Atlantic corals have hindered such coral-based environmental reconstructions in this region compared to the tropical Pacific. In order to identify complications associated with the complex skeletal architecture of the massive brain coral Diploria strigosa, we performed microsampling experiments along and across individual skeletal elements. We demonstrate that the mesoscale heterogeneity of Sr/Ca, d18O and d13C is a systematic feature of D. strigosa and is linked to different vital effects between skeletal elements. The thecal wall is significantly depleted in Sr, 18O and 13C compared to the adjacent septa and columella and differences between apparent temperature signatures of several degrees are greater for Sr/Ca suggesting that this temperature proxy is more sensitive to skeletal mixing than d18O. Parallel subseasonal microsampling experiments performed along individual skeletal elements of a single corallite of a D. strigosa coral which grew at a rate of 0.65 cm/year allow for investigating potential biases associated with its complex skeletal mesoarchitecture. Highest correlation between Sr/Ca and d18O from skeletal material retrieved from the centre of the thecal wall suggests that microdrilling the theca provides the best environmental signal compared to adjacent microsampling profiles. Moreover, based on monthly-mean climatology, the temperature dependence of Sr/Ca for this profile is comparable to previous calibrations published from faster growing D. strigosa. Based on these results, we conclude that accurate microsampling along the centre of the thecal wall of D. strigosa is a prerequisite for generating robust climate reconstructions from its skeleton.
Funding:
German Research Foundation (DFG), grant/award no. 25575884: Integrierte Analyse zwischeneiszeitlicher Klimadynamik
Coverage:
Latitude: 12.081800 * Longitude: -68.231900
Event(s):
BON-9-A * Latitude: 12.081800 * Longitude: -68.231900 * Elevation: 5.0 m * Location: Southern Caribbean Sea, Bonaire * Campaign: CaribClim_Coral_2006 * Method/Device: Drilling/drill rig (DRILL) * Comment: Young fossil coral (1912 AD)
Size:
3 datasets

Download Data

Download ZIP file containing all datasets as tab-delimited text — use the following character encoding: