Proteinaceous corals as proxy archives of paleo-environmental change

Williams, B.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103326

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The review ends with a reflection of outstanding challenges and opportunities over the coming decades of innovation (Section 6). To complement recent reviews of paleoclimate studies across a diversity of long‐lived reef‐building (Sadler et al, 2014) and proteinaceous (Williams, 2020) coral genera, this review will focus primarily on Porites spp. corals, which remain the most extensively utilized genera for paleoclimate studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few factors make reef‐building corals a particularly powerful archive of past climate variability: (1) annual density banding patterns (Knutson et al, 1972), relatively rapid growth (~0.3–2 cm/year, depending on the species), and fine‐scale milling techniques permit annual or even sub‐annual reconstructions of past climate (hereafter “high‐resolution”); (2) annual density banding patterns, combined with advances in radiometric dating techniques (see Section 3.6) permit chronological uncertainties on the order of only a few years or less for well‐dated chronologies; and (3) well‐preserved colonies of living (modern) and sub‐fossil (hereafter “fossil,” Figure 1) samples fill critical gaps in both the spatial and temporal coverage of climate information from the global tropics (Lough, 2010). Several reviews have discussed the rich history of coral paleoclimate studies, including an in‐depth discussion of the commonly utilized proxies for paleo‐temperature (δ 18 O, Sr/Ca) and coral growth (density, extension, and calcification) (Barnes & Lough, 1996; Corrège, 2006; Felis & Pätzold, 2003; Gagan et al, 2000; Grottoli & Eakin, 2007; Jones et al, 2009; Lough, 2004, 2008, 2010; Lough & Cantin, 2014; Lough & Cooper, 2011; Sadler et al, 2014; Williams, 2020), as well as novel geochemical proxies (Saha et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental records from coral skeletons: A decade of novel insights and innovation

Thompson

2021

WIREs Climate Change

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Hundreds of coral paleoclimate records have been developed over the past several decades, significantly extending the instrumental record and improving our understanding of tropical climate variability and change in otherwise datapoor regions. Coral "proxy" records measure the change in skeletal geochemistry or growth as a function of ocean conditions at the time of calcification.Over the past decade (since 2010), new syntheses have identified coherent patterns of warming and variability that are unique within the paleo record (albeit not yet unprecedented). In turn, ocean warming and acidification have had a detrimental impact on coral growth, with reduced extension and increased stress banding. Methodological advances have constrained uncertainties and improved our understanding of the processes by which climate information is archived in coral skeletons. Models that describe these processes have been developed to facilitate proxy-model comparisons, identify sources of uncertainties, and provide a benchmark upon which forced changes may be detected within a highly variable climate system. Finally, several innovative new proxies have expanded the climate and environmental information that may be obtained from corals, including: seawater pH, aragonite saturation, anthropogenic nitrogen, runoff, and trade winds. Further extending established and novel proxies should remain a priority, along with seawater monitoring and density measurements with which to screen and calibrate these records. As this critical climate archive is increasingly threatened by warming and ocean acidification, the community must work closely together to collect this invaluable climate data in an ecologically and culturally sensitive manner, before it is too late.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental records from coral skeletons: A decade of novel insights and innovation

Thompson

2021

WIREs Climate Change

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“…Bromine is a known structural (organically-bound) component of proteinaceous deepsea coral skeletons and is present in the form of a halogenated scleroprotein (Nowak et al, 2009;Williams et al, 2006), namely bromotyrosine and dibromotyrosine (Ehrlich, 2019). As such, the proteinaceous skeletons of deep-sea corals contain some of the largest concentrations of halogens (specifically Br and I) in a biological material (Nowak et al, 2009;Williams, 2020). Interestingly, these concentrations vary throughout the deep-sea coral skeletons and thus must be controlled by their biological availability (Juárez-de la Rosa et al, 2007;Prouty et al, 2011;Williams, 2020;Williams and Grottoli, 2011).…”

Section: Brominementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, the proteinaceous skeletons of deep-sea corals contain some of the largest concentrations of halogens (specifically Br and I) in a biological material (Nowak et al, 2009;Williams, 2020). Interestingly, these concentrations vary throughout the deep-sea coral skeletons and thus must be controlled by their biological availability (Juárez-de la Rosa et al, 2007;Prouty et al, 2011;Williams, 2020;Williams and Grottoli, 2011). Considering Br is predominantly present in seawater in a dissolved phase and is accumulated in large proportions by black corals, it seems unlikely the coral would source Br from any minor particulate phase -such as POM.…”

Section: Brominementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Antipatharian 'black' corals are a new proxy archive that has shown promise for providing marine records in a wide range of waters at resolutions higher than sediment cores can typically provide (Komugabe, 2015a;Komugabe et al, 2014;Raimundo et al, 2013;Williams, 2020;Williams and Grottoli, 2011). They are long-lived, widely distributed, colonial filter-feeding organisms of the Order Antipatharia.…”

Section: Proxy Records: Introducing Black Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trace Elements in Deep-Sea Black (Antipatharian) Coral Skeletons

Parr¹

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The proteinaceous skeletons of deep-sea Antipatharian 'black' corals are a new proxy archive that has shown promise for providing high resolution marine records in a wide range of waters. Although stable isotopes have been used successfully for palaeoceanographic reconstruction, there have been few studies of trace metals in these skeletons. In this thesis we study a suite of trace elements in black coral skeletons to assess their utility in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Fifty black corals were sampled from the NIWA Invertebrate Collection, broadly distributed around New Zealand from ~25˚S to 47 ˚S and 165˚E to 155˚E. Small powder samples were taken from the outer layers of the coral skeleton, dissolved in nitric acid and analysed by ICP-MS using a new methodology developed as part of this thesis. We critically evaluate this new method, quantifying the limits on accuracy and intrinsic reproducibility, and comparing this to the range of concentrations found in coral specimens. A necessary step in evaluating the potential for trace elements to provide palaeoenvironmental information is to understand how trace elements become incorporated into the corals’ skeletons. Questions include whether uptake is passive or active (i.e. biologically mediated); and whether trace elements derive from the coral’s food (originating in the surface ocean) or from the ambient water in which the coral is growing. In this thesis we explore these questions by studying spatial patterns of coral trace elements to determine if they show similarity to surface or intermediate-depth ocean trace element distributions. We investigate the influence of several variables on coral trace elements including proximity to the NZ mainland, the depth at which the corals grew, regional oceanography, and primary productivity. We examine the enrichment of skeletal trace elements compared with both coral tissue and particulate organic material (POM). Finally, we examine subsets of the coral samples that control for several environmental variables in an attempt to isolate the effect of coral size and taxonomy on trace element concentrations. Replicate samples from the same specimens and from different specimens at the same site (or within a 25Km radius) were used to assess differences in trace element content within and between coral specimens, respectively. Our results indicate that black corals strongly enrich many trace elements (TE) in their skeletons and tissues (Br>Zn>Cd>Mo>V>U>Fe>Cu>Ni>I) at levels up to 10⁸ times higher than seawater concentrations. A large intrinsic variability in TE content was found between and within all black coral specimens. This variability largely obscures any relationship that may indicate a water column origin and mechanism of uptake. Coral taxonomy at a genus level strongly influences most TE concentrations, contributing up to 80% of the variation in some elements. Although largely inconclusive, the data hints at a combination of active and passive uptake pathways from ambient or surface seawater sources for some elements which might warrant further investigation. In order to advance this field of study further, we suggest that a better understanding is needed of the taxonomic control over trace element incorporation, including biomineralisation and biological utilisation of trace elements by black corals. We also note that there is a lack of data on trace element biogeochemical cycles in the waters around NZ, which would be important in order to better constrain the behaviour of the TEs in black corals and to better evaluate their paleoenvironmental utility.

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Sclerochronology in the Southern Ocean

González

2021

Polar Biol

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This manuscript aims to provide a comprehensive review of the work done by Antarctic sclerochronology research across different taxa (arthropods, bivalves, brachiopods, bryozoans, cephalopods, hard and soft corals, gastropods, echinoderms and teleost fish), provide an analysis of current challenges in the discipline and start a discussion of what sclerochronology can offer for Antarctic research in future. The Southern Ocean ecosystem remains largely unstudied in part for its remoteness, extreme climate and strong seasonality. This lack of knowledge, some of it even on basic biological information, it is especially worrying due to ongoing climate-driven changes that the Southern Ocean ecosystem is experiencing. Lack of long-term in situ instrumental series has also being a detriment to understand long-term feedbacks between the physical environment and the ecosystem. Sclerochronology, the study of periodic accretional patterns in the hard body structures of living organisms, has contributed to a wide range of Antarctic research disciplines (e.g. paleoclimate reconstructions, population structure analysis, environmental proxies). This review highlights a disparity in research focus by taxa with some groups (e.g. bivalves, teleost fish) attracting most of the research attention, whereas other groups (e.g. gastropod) have attracted much little research attention or in some cases it is almost non-existent (e.g. echinoderms). Some of the long-lived species considered in this review have the potential to provide the much-needed high-resolution eco-environmental proxy data and play an important role in blue carbon storage in the Sothern Ocean. Another issue identified was the lack of cross-validation between analytical techniques. Graphic abstract

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Proteinaceous corals as proxy archives of paleo-environmental change

Cited by 9 publications

References 261 publications

Environmental records from coral skeletons: A decade of novel insights and innovation

Environmental records from coral skeletons: A decade of novel insights and innovation

Trace Elements in Deep-Sea Black (Antipatharian) Coral Skeletons

Sclerochronology in the Southern Ocean

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