UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The flower garden banks Siderastrea siderea coral as a candidate global boundary stratotype section and point for the Anthropocene series

DeLong, Kristine L; Palmer, Kylie; Wagner, Amy J; Weerabaddana, Mudith M; Slowey, Niall; Herrmann, Achim D; Duprey, Nicolas; ... Zinke, Jens; + view all (2023) The flower garden banks Siderastrea siderea coral as a candidate global boundary stratotype section and point for the Anthropocene series. Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196221147616. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of de Long_2023_WFGB coral GSSP paper preprint version.pdf]
Preview
Text
de Long_2023_WFGB coral GSSP paper preprint version.pdf - Other

Download (10MB) | Preview

Abstract

The proposed Anthropocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) candidate site of West Flower Garden Bank (27.8762°N, 93.8147°W) is an open ocean location in the Gulf of Mexico with a submerged coral reef and few direct human impacts. Corals contain highly accurate and precise (<±1 year) internal chronologies, similar to tree rings, and their exoskeletons are formed of aragonite and can be preserved in the rock record. Here we present results from a large Siderastrea siderea coral (core 05WFGB3; 1755–2005 CE) sampled with annual and monthly resolutions that show clear markers of global and regional human impacts. Atmospheric nuclear bomb testing by-products (14C, 239+240Pu) have clear increases in this coral starting in 1957 for 14C and the first increase in 1956 for 239+240Pu (potential bases for the Anthropocene GSSP). Coral δ13C declined especially after 1956 consistent with the Suess Effect resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. Coral skeletal δ15N starts to increase in 1963 corresponding with the increase in agricultural fertilizers. Coral Hg concentrations (1933–1980) loosely track fluctuations in industrial pollution and coral Ba/Ca increases from 1965–1983 when offshore oil operations expand after 1947. Coral temperature proxies contain the 20th-century global warming trend whereas coral growth declines during this interval.

Type: Article
Title: The flower garden banks Siderastrea siderea coral as a candidate global boundary stratotype section and point for the Anthropocene series
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/20530196221147616
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221147616
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Ba/Ca, carbon isotopes, mercury, nitrogen isotopes, oxygen isotopes, plutonium, radiocarbon, Sr/Ca
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167017
Downloads since deposit
33Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item