Nature Communications (May 2019)

Coral carbon isotope sensitivity to growth rate and water depth with paleo-sea level implications

  • Braddock K. Linsley,
  • Robert B. Dunbar,
  • Emilie P. Dassié,
  • Neil Tangri,
  • Henry C. Wu,
  • Logan D. Brenner,
  • Gerard M. Wellington

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10054-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Rising anthropogenic CO2 levels in the atmosphere are resulting in ocean acidification which may impact coral growth rates. Here, the authors quantify the relationship between water depth and δ13C compositions of South Pacific corals from the pre-industrial era, and their results should lead to improvements in the precision of sea level reconstructions using fossil corals.