Refining trace metal temperature proxies in cold-water scleractinian and stylasterid corals

Chemical characterization of deep-sea corals from the continental slope of Santos Basin (southeastern Brazilian upper margin)

“…In the present study, δ 18 O was not correlated with temperature (r= 0.41, p= 0.21), which was also noted by Stewart et al (2020) in scleractinian corals due to the influence of ion pumping and the effects of the growth rate of these corals (Chen et al, 2018). δ 13 C was significantly correlated with depth (r= -0.57, p= 0.03).…”

“…Concentrations of Sr and Ca in seawater are constant due to the long residence times, and the assimilation of Sr in scleractinian corals depends on temperature, inversely correlated and favored during the winter (Yu et al, 2005a;Raddatz et al, 2013). In the present study, Sr/Ca did not correlate with temperature (r = -0.17, p = 0.62), suggesting that this ratio is also influenced by vital effects, such as the origin of the carbonate in the skeleton and the physiology of the coral (Montagna et al, 2005;Montagna and Taviani, 2019;Stewart et al, 2020).…”

“…While the Li/Mg ratio has recently been used as a temperature proxy in cold-water scleractinian corals, it has also been proposed as a normalizer of vital effects (Case et al, 2010;Raddatz et al, 2013;Robinson et al, 2014;Montagna and Taviani, 2019;Stewart et al, 2020). Extensive study with several species of scleractinian corals found a high correlation of the Li/Mg ratio with seawater temperature, suggesting that Li and Mg would be controlled by the same biological, physical, and chemical processes during coral growth, since both have a long residence time, minimizing vital effects (Montagna et al, 2014).…”