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Microstructure of common reef-building coral genera Acropora, Pocillopora, Goniastrea and Porites: constraints on spatial resolution in geochemical sampling

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Abstract

Scleractinian corals are increasingly used as recorders of modern and paleoclimates. The microstructure of four common reef-building coral genera is documented here: Acropora, Pocillopora, Goniastrea, and Porites. This study highlights the complexity and spatial variability of skeletal growth in different coral genera and suggests that a single growth model is too generalized to allow the accurate depiction of the variability observed in the four genera studied. New models must be introduced in order for coral skeletogenesis to be understood adequately to allow coral skeletons to serve as repositories of temporally constrained geochemical data. Owing to differences in microstructural patterns in different genera, direct observation of microstructural elements and growth lines may be necessary to allow microsamples to be placed into series that represent temporal sequences with known degrees of time averaging. Such data are critical for constraining microsampling strategies aimed at developing true time series geochemical data at very fine spatial and temporal scales.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank J.E. Sorauf, J.S. Jell, and J.-P. Cuif for discussions on coral microstructure and all staff at the Analytical Electron Microscopy Facility at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where all scanning electron microscopy was carried out. We also thank two anonymous reviewers who made very helpful comments on the manuscript. The research was funded by QUT and by a QUT Australian Tertiary Network Small Grant to Webb. Corals were collected under Marine Parks Permit G03/9787.1 from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

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  1. School of Natural Resource Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001,, Australia

    Luke D. Nothdurft & Gregory E. Webb

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Nothdurft, L.D., Webb, G.E. Microstructure of common reef-building coral genera Acropora, Pocillopora, Goniastrea and Porites: constraints on spatial resolution in geochemical sampling. Facies 53, 1–26 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-006-0090-0

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