Zoantharia

Stable isotope records of corals from the northern Red Sea

We present a study based on X-ray chronologies and the stable isotopic composition of fossil Porites spp. corals from the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) covering the mid-Holocene period from 5750 to 4450 14C years BP (before present). The stable oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of five specimens reveal regular annual periodicities. Compared with modern Porites spp. from the same environment, the average seasonal delta18O amplitude of the fossil corals is higher (by ca. 0.35-0.60?), whereas annual growth rates are lower (by ca. 3.5 to 2 mm/year).

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Corallosphere

Scleractinia

Corallosphere.org is a web application developed with the aim of exploring new approaches to compiling taxonomic information on extant and extinct scleractinian corals. Main areas covered in Corallosphere.org include text descriptions for diagnoses of valid genera, as well as tools for managing taxonomic synonymies, image databases, a bibliography, and an illustrated atlas of morphological terms