[Coral-List] Topical Session Description
Ben Greenstein
bgreenstein at cornellcollege.edu
Wed May 31 14:39:01 EDT 2006
See below for description of GSA topical session
Topical Session T113: Applied Reef Coral Paleoecology
Topic: Application of paleoecological studies of fossil coral reefs
to sedimentologic and ecologic problems.
Possible Subject Areas to be Included:
a) Response of reef coral communities to climate change.
b) Comparative taphonomy and sedimentology of fossil reef coral
assemblages.
c) Taphonomic approaches to discriminating between reef subfacies.
d) Paleoecological evidence for rapid (sub-orbital scale)
fluctuations in sea level.
e) Mechanics of the radiation of the modern reef coral fauna.
Rationale: Studies of Tertiary and Quaternary reef coral communities
have increasingly been applied to issues related to the modern reef
system. Reef coral assemblages from these time intervals are often
remarkably preserved; hence paleoecological studies that reveal their
long-term ecological dynamics are especially robust. A fuller
understanding of the response of reef coral communities to changes in
climate, ocean circulation patterns and origination and extinction
events is beginning to emerge from recent paleoecologic,
sedimentologic and taphonomic research. The goal of the session is
bring workers in these and related fields together to share their
results and discuss how they may be used to predict responses of
modern reef communities to the spectrum of disturbances observed today.
Format: Oral
**********************************
Benjamin J. Greenstein Ph.D.
Professor of Geology
Cornell College
600 First St. West
Mt. Vernon, IA 52314
USA
PH: 319-895-4307
FAX: 319-895-5667
WEB: http://www.cornellcollege.edu/geology/greenstein
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