Geochemical Calibration of Modern Isopora and Acropora Corals from the Great Barrier Reef and Applications
- Lead PI: Dr. Braddock K. Linsley
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Unit Affiliation: Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)
- May 2014 - April 2017
- Inactive
- Oceania ; Great Barrier Reef, Australia ; Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
- Project Type: Research
DESCRIPTION: In 2010, Integrated Ocean Drilling Project Leg 325 (IODP325) cored drowned fossil reefs off the Great Barrier Reef with the objective of collecting fossil corals that would yield information about past sea levels, ocean temperatures, and ocean chemistry. Massive coral colonies up to ~40 cm in length were the main types of coral recovered during IODP325 with ages spanning the last glacial maximum to the earliest part of the modern warm period (~30,000 to 10,000 years B.P.). Today these corals (Isopora and Acropora species) grow in relatively high-energy environments but little is known about their potential to support paleoceanographic reconstructions since these genera have not been previously used for this purpose.