Rib Reef, Great Barrier Reef Coral Data Set --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOAA Paleoclimatology Program and World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, Boulder --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: PLEASE CITE ORIGINAL REFERENCE WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!! NAME OF DATA SET: Great Barrier Reef Coral Data Set LAST UPDATE: 3/2001 (Original Receipt by WDC Paleo) CONTRIBUTORS: Janice Lough, Australian Institute of Marine Science IGBP PAGES/WDCA CONTRIBUTION SERIES NUMBER: 2001-024 SUGGESTED DATA CITATION: Lough, J.M. and D.J. Barnes, 2001, Great Barrier Reef Coral Data Set, IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series #2001-024. NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA. ORIGINAL REFERENCES: Lough, J.M. and D.J. Barnes, 2000. Environmental controls on growth of the massive coral Porites. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 245: 225-243. Lough, J.M. and D.J. Barnes, 1997. Several centuries of variation in skeletal extension, density and calcification in massive Porites colonies from the Great Barrier Reef: a proxy for seawater temperature and a background of variability against which to identify unnatural change. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 211: 29-67. Chalker, B.E. and D.J. Barnes, 1990. Gamma densitometry for the measurement of coral skeletal density. Coral Reefs, 4: 95-100. GEOGRAPHIC REGION: subtropical southwestern Pacific PERIOD OF RECORD: 1479-1991 AD DESCRIPTION: Great Barrier Reef Coral Data Set Extension, Density, and Calcification data from 35 Porites coral cores covering the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Data set contains 35 individual core data sets plus time series 1746-1982 of average calcification rate for 10 of these sites. The Australian Institute of Marine Science began collecting cores from very large massive colonies of Porites on the Great Barrier Reef in the early 1980s. Such cores cannot normally be identified to species. The cores were mounted and sawn to remove slices that were about 6-7mm thick. All slices were X-rayed and skeletal density measured along a central track on each slice using a gamma densitometer. The high density portion of annual density bands in Porites from the Great Barrier Reef appears to form usually between October and March, the Southern Hemisphere summer. Peaks in the density profiles were successively counted backwards from the last (outermost or youngest) peak. Density was assumed to peak in January and the most recent peak was dated from the date of collection of the core. Dates were then assigned to all peaks in the series. Time series of the following skeletal growth parameters were then obtained: 1) Average annual density (g.cm-3) 2) Annual linear extension measured between high density peaks (cm.yr-1) 3) Annual calcification (g.cm-2.yr-1_; the product of annual average density and annual linear extension These data were obtained from coral cores taken at 35 sites on the Great Barrier Reef. The density profiles do not always display regular, obvious annual peaks and we could not be absolutely sure of the dating for some profiles. We consider there may be errors of + or - 2-3 years in the starting data of some of these series. Reef Latitude Longitude Species Collected Start Year End Year Core ID Rib Reef 18.48S 147.88E Porites 1984 1853 1983 RIB01A Year Ext Density Calcification 1853 0.838 1.415 1.186 1854 0.914 1.375 1.257 1855 1.372 1.346 1.846 1856 1.118 1.351 1.510 1857 1.219 1.407 1.715 1858 1.905 1.393 2.653 1859 2.134 1.350 2.880 1860 1.219 1.349 1.645 1861 1.600 1.326 2.122 1862 1.448 1.362 1.972 1863 0.787 1.276 1.005 1864 1.270 1.268 1.610 1865 1.092 1.293 1.412 1866 1.473 1.270 1.871 1867 1.956 1.362 2.663 1868 1.118 1.323 1.479 1869 1.168 1.330 1.554 1870 1.346 1.343 1.809 1871 0.559 1.397 0.781 1872 1.448 1.374 1.990 1873 1.295 1.265 1.639 1874 1.270 1.202 1.526 1875 1.092 1.210 1.322 1876 1.067 1.201 1.281 1877 1.397 1.229 1.717 1878 2.083 1.194 2.486 1879 0.610 1.228 0.749 1880 1.524 1.273 1.940 1881 1.880 1.339 2.517 1882 1.346 1.373 1.849 1883 1.803 1.331 2.400 1884 1.067 1.335 1.424 1885 0.660 1.319 0.871 1886 0.686 1.260 0.864 1887 1.143 1.227 1.403 1888 2.032 1.144 2.326 1889 1.168 1.195 1.396 1890 1.295 1.196 1.550 1891 1.448 1.237 1.792 1892 1.702 1.369 2.330 1893 0.711 1.416 1.007 1894 1.575 1.409 2.219 1895 1.956 1.407 2.752 1896 1.270 1.478 1.877 1897 1.041 1.374 1.430 1898 0.737 1.441 1.061 1899 1.803 1.449 2.613 1900 0.914 1.471 1.345 1901 1.829 1.431 2.618 1902 0.889 1.272 1.131 1903 0.737 1.181 0.870 1904 1.803 1.093 1.971 1905 2.464 1.130 2.783 1906 1.651 1.178 1.945 1907 1.600 1.184 1.895 1908 1.727 1.228 2.122 1909 1.016 1.261 1.281 1910 1.473 1.188 1.751 1911 2.464 1.121 2.763 1912 0.965 1.234 1.191 1913 2.159 1.280 2.763 1914 1.041 1.212 1.262 1915 1.549 1.119 1.734 1916 0.838 1.206 1.011 1917 0.838 1.190 0.998 1918 2.159 1.187 2.563 1919 1.422 1.233 1.753 1920 0.889 1.215 1.080 1921 1.956 1.206 2.358 1922 1.676 1.244 2.086 1923 2.311 1.255 2.901 1924 1.372 1.223 1.678 1925 1.422 1.258 1.789 1926 1.626 1.277 2.075 1927 1.829 1.259 2.303 1928 1.397 1.227 1.714 1929 1.499 1.239 1.856 1930 1.676 1.265 2.121 1931 1.194 1.309 1.563 1932 1.295 1.309 1.695 1933 1.448 1.299 1.881 1934 1.499 1.295 1.941 1935 0.813 1.258 1.022 1936 1.016 1.239 1.259 1937 0.864 1.245 1.075 1938 1.880 1.186 2.230 1939 1.295 1.221 1.582 1940 0.889 1.278 1.136 1941 2.388 1.167 2.788 1942 1.016 1.224 1.244 1943 1.803 1.222 2.203 1944 2.083 1.205 2.510 1945 2.667 1.235 3.294 1946 0.864 1.241 1.072 1947 1.753 1.258 2.205 1948 0.914 1.219 1.115 1949 1.727 1.246 2.152 1950 1.981 1.269 2.513 1951 1.321 1.259 1.662 1952 1.422 1.269 1.805 1953 1.651 1.257 2.076 1954 0.635 1.278 0.812 1955 1.880 1.226 2.304 1956 1.168 1.211 1.415 1957 1.168 1.202 1.404 1958 1.118 1.166 1.303 1959 0.711 1.214 0.864 1960 1.168 1.163 1.359 1961 1.372 1.274 1.747 1962 1.803 1.267 2.284 1963 1.803 1.241 2.239 1964 1.372 1.199 1.644 1965 1.905 1.172 2.233 1966 1.016 1.146 1.164 1967 0.889 1.174 1.044 1968 1.067 1.180 1.259 1969 1.016 1.171 1.190 1970 1.473 1.143 1.684 1971 0.762 1.193 0.909 1972 0.864 1.192 1.030 1973 2.159 1.206 2.604 1974 1.575 1.231 1.939 1975 1.702 1.166 1.984 1976 1.143 1.128 1.289 1977 1.016 1.178 1.197 1978 1.753 1.253 2.196 1979 1.956 1.220 2.386 1980 2.159 1.196 2.582 1981 1.245 1.223 1.522 1982 1.295 1.254 1.624 1983 1.575 1.195 1.881