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Coral reefs are some of the most fragile,
and yet most diverse environments on Earth. In a
delicate balance between ocean, land, and
atmosphere, coral reefs harbor a third of all
marine species. As diverse and sensitive as it
is, the coral reef ecosystem does not only have
intrinsic natural value, as well as economic
value for tourism and fishing, but also the
incredible value of recording past climate
conditions within the limestone skeletons of
ancient corals. Precious information about past
environmental changes in preserved in many
pristine corals around the world, helping
scientists investigate ocean and climate
conditions as far back as tens of thousands
years ago.
Chemical analyses of coral skeletons
provide impressive insight into fluctuations in
nutrient delivery to the system and fluctuations
in carbon dioxide levels as well as
temperatures. Precise age and depth
determination of series of ancient corals also
allows for estimates of regional and global sea
level changes. Detailed research on various
aspects of corals and coral reefs can provide
immense and crucial information about the rate
and degree of climatological changes observed in
the past. This, in turn, will be quite
meaningful for modelling future sea level and
climate change not only in the coral reef areas
of the world, but the whole climate system.
Lida Teneva is a
graduate student who recently came to LDEO to
study these problems with Dr. Rick Fairbanks and
others. Here is a link to Dr. Fairbanks' Coral
Biochemistry and Culture experiments:
http://radiocarbon.ldeo.columbia.edu/research/coral.htm
Lida's
presentation (ppt)
Lida's
presentation (pdf)
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