Corals, Sclerosponges and Mollusks

Abstract

The early identification and understanding of the temporal significance of growth increments in many calcareous skeletons, but especially those in mollusks and corals, facilitated their use as a means to study environmental variability in the Quaternary. Armed with this understanding, geochemical studies of the skeletons of mollusks and corals, and later of sclerosponges, began in earnest. These early investigations established many of the fundamental principles that now form the foundation of nearly all studies using the skeletons of corals, sclerosponges, and mollusks to study environmental and climate change. In this article, we provide a survey of decades of research in the establishment and application of using the skeletons of corals, sclerosponges, and mollusks as archives of environmental variability in the Quaternary.