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The strontium to calcium ratio of skeletal aragonite in three genera of reef-building corals varies as a simple function of temperature and the strontium to calcium ratio of the incubation water. The strontiumlcalcium distribution coefficients of coral aragonite apparently differ from the corresponding coefficient of inorganically precipitated aragonite. With some care, coral skeletons can be used as recording thermometers.

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No abstract

The skeletons of living specimens of the scleractinian coral Porites lobata have been found to contain up to 46 +/- 5 percent low-magnesium calcite even though free of gross detrital inclusions and boring or encrusting organisms. The calcite crystals occur in the interior of skeletal structures, have dimensions of 20 micrometers or less, and are surrounded by typical aragonite needles. Biogenic deposition seems to be the most likely source of the calcite, although the evidence does not rule out diagenesis of metastable.