[Coral-List] Coral reefs under threat
Eugene Shinn
eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu
Sun Aug 6 19:21:12 UTC 2023
Some readers are claiming that coral die-offs like what is
happening now in the Florida Keys has never happened before. I can't
remember how many times I have suggested that corals have indeed
perished along the main reef tract during the past 6,000 years. Seismic
profiles and coring in large parts of the main reef tract showed that
corals either never got started on many miles of the reef tract, or were
exterminated by unknown causes. In those areas where the main reef tract
is under 8-10m of water there has been less than 2 m of Holocene coral
accumulation on the underlying Pleistocene reef ridge. Even the slowest
growing corals could have kept pace with rising sea level during that
time period. I encourage someone to do the research and determine why
the corals did not keep pace with rising sea level. Was it water
temperature or pollution? Remember this all happened long before humans
invaded the Keys. Some well placed carbon 14 dates of dead corals
attached to the underlying Pleistocene surface may help solve the problem.
I recommend reading the extensive compilation of Keys research
compiled by Barbara Lidz cited below. More than 2 decades of research is
compiled in her USGS website below. Gene
Lidz, B.H., Reich, C.D., and Shinn, E.A., 2007, Systematic Mapping of
Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract: Central Key Largo to
Halfmoon Shoal (Gulf of Mexico): U.S. Geological Survey Professional
Paper 1751 (300+ single-spaced hardcopy pages: DVD and online at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/2007/1751 <http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/2007/1751>
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list