eprintid: 10166027 rev_number: 8 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/16/60/27 datestamp: 2023-03-07 15:59:47 lastmod: 2023-03-07 15:59:47 status_changed: 2023-03-07 15:59:47 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Zinke, J creators_name: Cantin, NE creators_name: DeLong, KL creators_name: Palmer, K creators_name: Boom, A creators_name: Hajdas, I creators_name: Duprey, N creators_name: Martínez-García, A creators_name: Rose, NL creators_name: Roberts, SL creators_name: Yang, H creators_name: Roberts, LR creators_name: Cundy, AB creators_name: Gaca, P creators_name: Milton, JA creators_name: Frank, G creators_name: Cox, A creators_name: Sampson, S creators_name: Tyrrell, G creators_name: Agg, M creators_name: Turner, SD title: North Flinders Reef (Coral Sea, Australia) Porites sp. corals as a candidate Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene Series ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: B03 divisions: C03 divisions: F26 divisions: F21 divisions: K56 keywords: Ba/Ca, carbon isotopes, nitrogen isotopes, oxygen isotopes, plutonium, Porites sp., radiocarbon, Sr/Ca note: © The Author(s) 2023. Creative Commons License (CC BY 4.0) This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). abstract: Corals are unique in the suite of proposed Anthropocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) archives, as living organisms that produce aragonite exoskeletons preserved in the geological record that contain highly accurate and precise (<±1 year) internal chronologies. The GSSP candidate site North Flinders Reef in the Coral Sea (Australia) is an offshore oceanic reef, and therefore less vulnerable to local human influences than those closer to the coast. Here, we present geochemical records from two Porites sp. corals sampled at an annual to pluri-annual (i.e. 3–5 years) resolution that shows clear global and regional human impacts. Atmospheric nuclear bomb testing by-products (14C,239+240Pu) show a clear increase in the Flinders Reef corals coincident with well-dated nuclear testing operations. By contrast, the radionuclides 241Am and 137Cs are present at low or undetectable levels, as are spheroidal carbonaceous fly-ash particles. Coral δ13C shows centennial variability likely influenced by growth effects in the 18th century and with a progression to lower values starting in 1880 and accelerating post-1970. The latter may be related to the Suess Effect resulting from 13C-depleted fossil fuel burning. Coral δ15N decreased between 1710 and 1954 with a reversal post-1954. Coral temperature proxies indicate prominent centennial variability with equally warm conditions in the 18th and end of 20th century. However, the exact mechanisms responsible for the mid-20th century changes in these parameters need to be scrutinised in further detail. Plain Language summary: This work proposes a candidate natural archive for the official marker of the Anthropocene that geologists will use to mark this important interval in time. Our candidate is a live coral from North Flinders Reef in the Coral Sea (Australia), located 150 km east of the Great Barrier Reef, a location that is remote from direct local human influences. Corals are a unique archive of tropical ocean change because they incorporate the geochemical signature from seawater into their limestone skeleton during their long life-spans. Here we investigated a number of geochemical markers in yearly growth layers of the corals to define several markers for the Anthropocene based on changes in temperature, water chemistry, chemicals from pollution and fertilisers, radioactive products from nuclear bomb testing, and by-products from burning fossil fuels. We have detected clear human influences in several of these markers. date: 2023-01-01 date_type: published publisher: SAGE Publications official_url: https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221142963 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2008222 doi: 10.1177/20530196221142963 lyricists_name: Rose, Nikolas lyricists_name: Yang, Handong lyricists_name: Turner, Simon lyricists_name: Roberts, Lucy lyricists_id: NROSE35 lyricists_id: HYANG48 lyricists_id: SDTUR68 lyricists_id: LRROB14 actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette actors_id: BFFLY94 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Anthropocene Review citation: Zinke, J; Cantin, NE; DeLong, KL; Palmer, K; Boom, A; Hajdas, I; Duprey, N; ... Turner, SD; + view all <#> Zinke, J; Cantin, NE; DeLong, KL; Palmer, K; Boom, A; Hajdas, I; Duprey, N; Martínez-García, A; Rose, NL; Roberts, SL; Yang, H; Roberts, LR; Cundy, AB; Gaca, P; Milton, JA; Frank, G; Cox, A; Sampson, S; Tyrrell, G; Agg, M; Turner, SD; - view fewer <#> (2023) North Flinders Reef (Coral Sea, Australia) Porites sp. corals as a candidate Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene Series. Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196221142963 <https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221142963>. (In press). Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166027/1/20530196221142963.pdf