Cores from living coral colonies were collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, to obtain skeletal records of past coral growth and allow geochemical reconstruction of environmental variables during the corals' centuries-long lifespans. The samples were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project that provides science to assist resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Three colonies each of the coral species Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea were collected in May 2012 as approved under National Park Service (NPS) scientific collecting permit number DRTO-2012-SCI-0001. These coral samples can be used to retroactively construct sea-surface temperature records by measuring the elemental ratio of strontium (Sr) to calcium (Ca), and are valuable for measuring additional paleoproxies as new methods are developed. Flannery and others (2017) includes temperature reconstructions using samples from one of the six (coral CG2) collected in this study. The core slabs described here, as well as others (see https://olga.er.usgs.gov/coreviewer/), can be requested on loan for further scientific study. Here we provide photographic images for each core depicting 1) the coral in its ocean environment, 2) the core as curated and slabbed, and 3) the X-rays of the slabs. More information on coring methods can be found in the associated U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016-1182 (Weinzierl and others, 2016). These coral samples are presently on loan from the NPS, stored at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, and cataloged under accession number DRTO-353.
Flannery, J. A., Richey, J.N., Thirumalai, K., Poore, R.Z., and DeLong, K.L., 2017, Multi-species coral Sr/Ca based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea from the Florida Straits: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 466, p. 100-109, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.10.022.
Weinzierl, M.S., Reich, C.D., Hickey, T.D., Bartlett, L.A., and Kuffner, I.B., 2016, Collection methods and descriptions of coral cores extracted from massive corals in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016-1182, 8 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161182.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Title | Coral cores collected in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.: Photographs and X-rays |
| DOI | 10.5066/F7V69GQ2 |
| Authors | Ilsa B Kuffner, Michael S. Weinzierl, Christopher D. Reich, Lucy A. Bartlett, Jennifer A. Flannery |
| Product Type | Data Release |
| Record Source | USGS Digital Object Identifier Catalog |
| USGS Organization | St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center |
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Collection methods and descriptions of coral cores extracted from massive corals in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.
Multi-species coral Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea from the Florida Straits
Ilsa B Kuffner, Ph.D.
Research Marine Biologist
Christopher D Reich
Deputy Center Director
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- Publications
Collection methods and descriptions of coral cores extracted from massive corals in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.
Cores from living coral colonies were collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A., to obtain skeletal records of past coral growth and allow geochemical reconstruction of environmental variables during the corals’ centuries-long lifespans. The samples were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (http:/coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest) that proAuthorsMichael S. Weinzierl, Christopher D. Reich, T. Donald Hickey, Lucy A. Bartlett, Ilsa B. KuffnerMulti-species coral Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea from the Florida Straits
We present new, monthly-resolved Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature (SST) records from two species of massive coral, Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea, from the Dry Tortugas National Park, FL, USA (DTNP). We combine these new records with published data from three additional S. siderea coral colonies to generate a 278-year long multi-species stacked Sr/Ca-SST record from DTNP. The compoAuthorsJennifer A. Flannery, Julie N. Richey, Kaustubh Thirumalai, Richard Z. Poore, Kristine L. DeLong - Connect
Ilsa B Kuffner, Ph.D.
Research Marine BiologistEmailPhoneChristopher D Reich
Deputy Center DirectorEmailPhone