Coral reefs

Abstract

This chapter reviews methods of coral based sea-level derivations. Coral reefs are ideally suited to directly determine paleo-sea levels as reef development is sensitive to water depth due to the association of symbiotic algae, Zooxanthellae, cohabiting with corals. Corals are essentially the only marine organisms for which the "closed-system" requirement can be satisfied for accurate radiometric dating through careful sampling. Extensive spatial and temporal archives of coral-based sea-level records have provided pivotal paleo climate data, and have been eagerly anticipated by the scientific community. Recognition of rapid Quaternary climate changes in the Earth's past has been made possible by coral-reef-based sea-level records. The same records also provide baseline examples to gauge the veracity of extrapolations for future climate change predictions. Show more