The effect of nutrient and temperature changes on coral reef development in the Coral Sea over 12 Ma

珊瑚礁支撑着最复杂的低纬度生态系统，影响着数百万依赖珊瑚礁生存的人的生活。然而，世界各地的珊瑚礁正在减少。人为驱动的全球变化，如全球变暖，海洋酸化和水质恶化（富营养化），已被确定为这种消亡的可能罪魁祸首。然而，这些因素的相互作用是未知的。随着现代珊瑚礁在地质时间尺度上的发展，一个问题是缺乏对新近纪珊瑚生长区的SST和生产力的长期记录。我和同事一起研究了珊瑚海珊瑚礁的历史。据发表，珊瑚礁扩张，直到晚中新世（10-11马）。然后，在10-6 Ma之间，生物礁消失，直到上新世中期温暖期（3.0-3.5 Ma）才重新出现。以前的研究假设，在晚中新世期间，寒冷，营养丰富的条件的出现导致了珊瑚礁的消失。我的研究表明，与晚中新世相比，这里不是一个更冷、营养丰富的环境，而是比现代珊瑚礁环境更温暖、营养贫乏。初步项目结果表明，有必要了解中新世中期-早期发生了什么，以了解晚中新世期间的变化。为此，我们将研究澳大利亚西北大陆架的U1464站点和露头样本。从大约20-18 Ma开始，在11-6 Ma消失之前，在西北陆架上形成了最大的新近纪生物礁之一。SST、营养物和当地条件的变化被认为是珊瑚礁消失的原因。在这个项目中，我们将使用生物标志物（TEX 86和脂肪族脂质）来重建18-6 Ma之间的SST变化。 因此，我们既要研究中新世晚期最大的新近纪礁系统之一的丧失，也要研究西北大陆架堡礁开始和顶点的条件。 通过这样做，我们希望了解一些主要的问题（1）在晚中新世期间，全球变化是否导致了印度洋-太平洋珊瑚礁的丧失？或者珊瑚礁的消失是由更多的局部变化造成的？(2)当珊瑚礁繁盛时，中新世中期气候适宜期的SST变化幅度是多少？重建珊瑚礁出现和消失的众多事件将使我们更好地了解是什么驱动珊瑚礁在地质时间尺度上生长和退缩。这将有助于更好地了解未来气候变化对珊瑚礁系统的影响。

Coral reefs support the most sophisticated low-latitude ecosystem and affect the lives of millions of people who depend on them for survival. However, coral reefs worldwide are experiencing a decline. Anthropogenically driven global changes, such as global warming, ocean acidification, and deteriorating water quality (eutrophication), have been identified as possible culprits in this demise. However, the interplay of these factors is unknown. As modern coral reefs developed over geological time scales, one issue is the lack of long-term records of SST and productivity from coral growing regions during the Neogene. Together with my co-workers I studied the history of corals reefs from the Coral Sea. It is published that coral reefs expanded until the Late Miocene (10-11 Ma). Then, between 10-6 Ma, the reefs disappeared and did not re-appear until the Mid-Pliocene warm period (3.0-3.5 Ma). Previous research hypothesized that the onset of cold, nutrient-rich conditions during the Late Miocene drove the loss of reefs. My research shows that instead of being a colder, nutrient-rich environment than during the Late Miocene, temperatures were warmer compared to the modern reef setting and nutrient poor. The initial project results show that it is necessary to understand what happened during the Mid-Early Miocene to understand the changes during the Late Miocene. To do this we will look at Site U1464 and outcrop samples from the NW Shelf of Australia. Beginning around 20-18 Ma one of the largest Neogene reef developed on the NW-Shelf before disappearing at 11-6 Ma. Changes in SST, nutrients and local conditions are thought to drive the coral reef loss. In this project we will use biomarkers (TEX86 and Aliphatic lipids) to reconstruct changes in SST between 18-6 Ma. Therefore, we will look both at the loss of one of the largest Neogene reef systems during the Late Miocene but also look at conditions during the start and apex of the NW Shelf barrier reef. By doing so we hope to understand a number of major questions (1) Did global changes cause the loss of coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific during the Late Miocene? Or was the loss of reefs driven by more local changes? (2) What was the magnitude of the SST change across the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum when the reefs were flourishing? Reconstructing numerous events when coral reefs appear and disappear will give us a greater understanding on what drives coral reef growth and retreat on geological timescales. This will help to better understand the impact of future climate change on the reef systems.