Great Barrier Reef Coral Growth Data - Extension, Density, and Calcification De'ath, G.; Lough, J.M.; Fabricius, K.E. De'ath, G. Lough, J.M. Fabricius, K.E. earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,corals and sclerosponges,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (density,Porites sp.,null,gram per cubic centimeter,null,corals and sclerosponges,raw,gamma ray densitometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (extension rate,Porites sp.,null,centimeter per year,null,corals and sclerosponges,raw,x-radiography,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (calcification rate,Porites sp.,null,gram per square centimeter per year,null,corals and sclerosponges,raw,gamma ray densitometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (Kelso>LATITUDE -18.42>LONGITUDE 146.98) (Normanby>LATITUDE -17.2>LONGITUDE 146.07) (Sweetlip>LATITUDE -22.23>LONGITUDE 152.75) (Myrmidon>LATITUDE -18.27>LONGITUDE 147.38) Reef-building corals are under increasing physiological stress from a changing climate and ocean absorption of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. We investigated 328 colonies of massive Porites corals from 69 reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia. Their skeletal records show that throughout the GBR, calcification has declined by 14.2% since 1990, predominantly because extension (linear growth) has declined by 13.3%. The data suggest that such a severe and sudden decline in calcification is unprecedented in at least the past 400 years. Calcification increases linearly with increasing large-scale sea surface temperature but responds nonlinearly to annual temperature anomalies. The causes of the decline remain unknown; however, this study suggests that increasing temperature stress and a declining saturation state of seawater aragonite may be diminishing the ability of GBR corals to deposit calcium carbonate. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : De'ath, G. Investigator : Lough, J.M. Investigator : Fabricius, K.E. 2009-01-02 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/6183 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/normanby01b2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/myrmidon01c2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/sweetlip01a2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/kelso02a2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/normanby01b2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/myrmidon01c2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/sweetlip01a2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/kelso02a2009.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/6183 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/normanby01b2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/myrmidon01c2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/sweetlip01a2009.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/aims60core.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/west_pacific/great_barrier/kelso02a2009.txt De'ath, G., J.M. Lough, and K.E. Fabricius. 2009. Declining coral calcification on the Great Barrier Reef. Science, Vol. 323, pp. 116 - 119, 2 January 2009. DOI: 10.1126/science.1165283 START YEAR: 1667 AD * END YEAR: 2001 AD 146.07 -22.23 152.75 -17.2