POTENTIAL IMPACT OF VARIATION IN THE SEAWATER STRONTIUM TO CALCIUM RATIO ON CORAL PALEOTHERMOMETRY IN THE FLORIDA KEYS, USA

Abstract

Standard methods of reconstructing past sea surface temperatures with coral skeletal Sr/Ca ratios assume that the seawater Sr/Ca ratio is constant. However, data to support this assumption are sparse in coral reef environments, in part because analytical techniques capable of determining seawater Sr/Ca with sufficient accuracy and precision are time-consuming and not widely available. This work presents a new method to measure seawater Sr/Ca based on inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry that can be easily adopted by many coral paleothermometry laboratories. The work also presents a spatially gridded study of summer and winter seawater Sr/Ca from the middle Florida Keys Reef Tract. The results indicate that seawater Sr/Ca in nearshore waters influenced by the Florida Bay varies by ~0.1 mmol/mol. The observed variation could lead to errors of ~2°C in temperature reconstructions and suggests that corals growing in waters influenced by Florida Bay are less suited for paleoclimate studies.