Multi-colony calibrations of coral Ba/Ca with a contemporaneous in situ seawater barium record

Abstract

The coral skeleton barium to calcium ratio (Ba/Cacoral), a proxy for seawater barium concentrations (BaSW), has been interpreted as a tracer of upwelling based on the characteristic “nutrient like” depth profile of BaSW. However, in some tropical regions, such as the Gulf of Panamá, substantial influence of terrestrial runoff inputs and differences between the vertical distribution of BaSW and that of the major nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) in the upper water column can complicate the interpretation of Ba/Cacoral as an upwelled nutrient proxy. In the Gulf of Panamá, contemporaneous Ba/Cacoral records from multiple colonies of Porites lobata, Pavona gigantea, and Pavona clavus corals record a nearly twofold change in surface water BaSW as a 20–70% increase in skeletal Ba/Ca with excellent correlation among Ba/Ca records from co-located colonies (r=0.86–0.99). These results provide, for the first time, an absolute calibration of the coral Ba proxy with a contemporaneous BaSW record. Compiling the Ba/Cacoral records from three co-located colonies of each species into taxon-specific composite regressions reveals strong statistically significant correlations with the BaSW time-series record (p<0.001). Differences among taxa in regression slope, y-intercept, and average distribution coefficient, as well as a demonstration of the application of the P. clavus calibration to a previously published Ba/Cacoral record, emphasize the necessity of using taxon-specific calibrations to reconstruct changes in BaSW with accuracy. These results support the application of Ba/Cacoral to reconstruct past changes in absolute BaSW concentrations, adding an important tool to the collection of geochemical proxies for reconstructing surface ocean biogeochemical processes in the past.