Collaborative Research: Development and Application of a Rayleigh-Based Approach to Coral Thermometry

该奖项将提供资金，以完善一个瑞利地球化学温度计，用于珊瑚生物矿化，该温度计基于对多种元素比率（例如Mg/Ca、Sr/Ca、Ba/Ca）的高精度分析和实验确定的分配系数，以便广泛应用于各种温水和冷水环境中的珊瑚物种。本研究的三个主要目标包括描述文石沉淀过程中的元素分配作为温度和晶体生长速率的函数，通过分析具有匹配的原位温度记录的珊瑚骨骼的短节来确定RBGT的准确性，以及RBGT构建连续的，在小冰期高峰期~1640-1670 AD期间大西洋海面温度的季节性分辨记录。更广泛的影响包括研究，以改善珊瑚的地球化学档案的解释，以更好地重建过去的海洋温度模型输入和未来的全球变化预测。这个项目还包括一个年轻的PI谁最近开始了一个新的教师职位。

This award will provide funds to refine a Rayleigh-based geochemical thermometer (RBGT) for coral biomineralization based on high-precision analyses of multiple elemental ratios (e.g. Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca) and experimentally determined partition coefficients so that it can be broadly applied across coral species in a wide range of warm and cold-water environments. Three main objectives of this research include a description of element partitioning during aragonite precipitation as a function of temperature and crystal growth rate, determination of the accuracy of the RBGT by analyzing short sections of coral skeletons that have matching in-situ temperature records and application of the RBGT to construct a continuous, seasonally resolved record of Atlantic sea surface temperatures during the peak of the Little Ice Age ~1640-1670 AD. The Broader Impacts include research to improve interpretation of the geochemical archive in corals to better reconstruct past ocean temperatures for model input and future global change predictions. This project also includes a young PI who has recently started a new faculty position.