Abstract
In this paper I describe and discuss the use of medical X-ray computerized tomography (CT) in the study of coral skeletons. CT generates X-ray images along freely chosen sections through the skeleton and offers, as well, the possibility of density measurements based on X-ray attenuation. This method has been applied to measure the skeletal density of the Caribbean reef-building coral Montastrea annularis, from Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. The observed, non-linear increase of skeletal density with depth can be attributed to decreasing photo-synthetic rates with increasing water depth. A comparison with extension rate measurements shows the inverse relationship between extension rate and skeletal density. CT proves to be aquick and non-destructive method to reveal growth structures (density banding) since it measures skeletal density.
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Bosscher, H. Computerized tomography and skeletal density of coral skeletons. Coral Reefs 12, 97–103 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302109
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302109