Geochemical Calibration of Modern Isopora and Acropora Corals from the Great Barrier Reef and Application to IODP Leg 325 Fossil Corals

2010年，综合大洋钻探项目第325航次（IODP 325）在大堡礁附近的淹没珊瑚礁化石中采集了岩心，目的是收集珊瑚化石，以获得有关过去海平面、海洋温度和海洋化学的信息。在IODP 325期间发现的主要珊瑚类型是长达约40厘米的大型珊瑚群，其年龄从末次冰期最大期到现代温暖期（约30 000至10 000年B. P.）的最早期。今天，这些珊瑚（Isopora和Acropora物种）生长在相对高能量的环境中，但对它们支持古海洋学重建的潜力知之甚少，因为这些属以前没有用于这一目的。为了解决这个问题，并充分利用收集的珊瑚芯，这项研究的目的是制定采样协议和现代海洋温度和盐度数据和骨骼氧同位素和锶/钙的现代Isopora和Acropora珊瑚从大堡礁之间的校准。以前收集的现代Isopora和Acropora珊瑚从苍鹭岛，Myrmidon礁和新几内亚将进行分析。在这项工作的第二部分，开发的校准和采样协议将应用于作为IODP 325的一部分收集的珊瑚化石，以生成更准确的温度和盐度重建。由于Isopora和Acropora珊瑚的地球化学以前没有根据现代数据进行校准，因此该项目将直接帮助所有使用IODP 325化石珊瑚的研究人员回答有关气候重要的西太平洋暖池海平面和海面温度的问题。 这项工作还将为与使用其他地点和生境的其他珊瑚进行的类似研究进行比较提供坚实的基础（例如，大溪地IODP 310航段）。该项目将支助拉蒙特-多尔蒂地球观测站的一名女研究生。

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. To address this issue and fully utilize the collected coral cores, this research is designed to develop sampling protocols and calibrations between modern oceanographic temperature and salinity data and skeletal oxygen isotopes and strontium/calcium in modern Isopora and Acropora corals from the Great Barrier Reef. Previously collected modern Isopora and Acropora corals from Heron Island, Myrmidon Reef and New Guinea will be analyzed. In the second part of this work the developed calibrations and sampling protocols will be applied to the fossil corals collected as part of IODP325 to generate more accurate temperature and salinity reconstructions. Because the geochemistry of Isopora and Acropora corals has not been previously calibrated against modern data, this project will directly assist all researchers using IODP325 fossil corals working to answer questions about sea level and sea surface temperature in the climatically important Western Pacific Warm Pool. This work will also provide a sound basis for comparisons with analogous studies using other corals in other localities and habitats (e.g., IODP Leg 310 in Tahiti). The project will support a female graduate student at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.