TY - JOUR
T1 - A unique coral biomineralization pattern has resisted 40 million years of major ocean chemistry change
AU - Stolarski, Jaroslaw
AU - Bosellini, Francesca R.
AU - Wallace, Carden C.
AU - Gothmann, Anne M.
AU - Mazur, MacIej
AU - Domart-Coulon, Isabelle
AU - Gutner-Hoch, Eldad
AU - Neuser, Rolf D.
AU - Levy, Oren
AU - Shemesh, Aldo
AU - Meibom, Anders
PY - 2016/6/15
Y1 - 2016/6/15
N2 - Today coral reefs are threatened by changes to seawater conditions associated with rapid anthropogenic global climate change. Yet, since the Cenozoic, these organisms have experienced major fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 levels (from greenhouse conditions of high pCO2 in the Eocene to low pCO2 ice-house conditions in the Oligocene-Miocene) and a dramatically changing ocean Mg/Ca ratio. Here we show that the most diverse, widespread, and abundant reef-building coral genus Acropora (20 morphological groups and 150 living species) has not only survived these environmental changes, but has maintained its distinct skeletal biomineralization pattern for at least 40 My: Well-preserved fossil Acropora skeletons from the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene show ultra-structures indistinguishable from those of extant representatives of the genus and their aragonitic skeleton Mg/Ca ratios trace the inferred ocean Mg/Ca ratio precisely since the Eocene. Therefore, among marine biogenic carbonate fossils, well-preserved acroporid skeletons represent material with very high potential for reconstruction of ancient ocean chemistry.
AB - Today coral reefs are threatened by changes to seawater conditions associated with rapid anthropogenic global climate change. Yet, since the Cenozoic, these organisms have experienced major fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 levels (from greenhouse conditions of high pCO2 in the Eocene to low pCO2 ice-house conditions in the Oligocene-Miocene) and a dramatically changing ocean Mg/Ca ratio. Here we show that the most diverse, widespread, and abundant reef-building coral genus Acropora (20 morphological groups and 150 living species) has not only survived these environmental changes, but has maintained its distinct skeletal biomineralization pattern for at least 40 My: Well-preserved fossil Acropora skeletons from the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene show ultra-structures indistinguishable from those of extant representatives of the genus and their aragonitic skeleton Mg/Ca ratios trace the inferred ocean Mg/Ca ratio precisely since the Eocene. Therefore, among marine biogenic carbonate fossils, well-preserved acroporid skeletons represent material with very high potential for reconstruction of ancient ocean chemistry.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84975075020&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/srep27579
DO - 10.1038/srep27579
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C2 - 27302371
AN - SCOPUS:84975075020
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 6
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
M1 - 27579
ER -
