georefid:2005-048157SEDIS Publication Catalogueana.macario@awi.dehttp://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/informationpointOfContact2011-06-23T00:00:00Zhttp://sedis.iodp.org/pub-catalogue/index.php?id=10.1130/G21595.1<gco:CharacterString>Late Quaternary sea-surface temperatures in the western Coral Sea; implications for the growth of the Australian Great Barrier Reef</gco:CharacterString>2005-01-01publicationgeorefid:2005-048157doi:10.1130/G21595.1Lawrence, K. T.Brown University, Department of Geological Sciences, Providence, RI, United StatesauthorHerbert, T. D.authorGeological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United StatespublisherdocumentHardcopyGeology (Boulder)33 (8)677-680Recent chronostratigraphic evidence suggests that the central Australian Great Barrier Reef formed within the past 780 k.y. Periplatform sediments of the same age recovered from the western Coral Sea record a progressive decrease in the delta (super 18) O of planktonic foraminifera to the present. Several investigators have proposed that this trend represents an appreciable late Pleistocene warming ( approximately 4 degrees C) of ocean surface temperatures, which they posit catalyzed the growth of the Great Barrier Reef. Contrary to this hypothesis, we demonstrate using alkenone paleothermometry (U (sub 37) (super k') ) on sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 820 that sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the western Coral Sea changed by approximately 1.5 degrees C or less during the past approximately 800 k.y. If the central Great Barrier Reef rose in the late Quaternary, it was therefore not due to a warming of SSTs. We explore whether a major moisture balance change and/or diagenetic alteration of calcareous microfossils can explain the higher delta (super 18) O values observed at depth in the planktonic delta (super 18) O record at ODP Site 820. Our results suggest that diagenesis provides a large isotopic overprint.completedQuaternary geologyIsotope geochemistryalkenonesalterationAustralasiaAustraliabiochemistryCenozoicCoral SeadiagenesisForaminiferageochemistrygeologic thermometryglacial environmentglaciomarine environmentGreat Barrier ReefHoloceneinterglacial environmentInvertebrataisotope ratiosisotopesketoneslast glacial maximumLeg 133marine environmentmarine sedimentsmicrofossilsO-18/O-16Ocean Drilling ProgramODP Site 820organic compoundsoverprintingoxygenPacific Oceanpaleo-oceanographypaleoecologyplanktonic taxaProtistaQuaternaryQueensland Australiareef environmentsea-surface temperaturesedimentsSEM dataSouth PacificSouthwest Pacificstable isotopesupper QuaternaryWest Pacificurn:org.iodp:exp:133urnlargerWorkCitationcampaignurn:org.iodp:exp:133:site:820urnlargerWorkCitationstudyurn:org.iodp:exp:133urnlargerWorkCitationcampaignEnglishgeoscientificInformation146.1813146.1814-16.3814-16.3813With GSA Data Repository Item 2005126