Crystalline Architecture and Stratigraphy of Coral Skeletal Density Banding: a Geobiological Record of Changing Coral Reef Ecology
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Bucknell University Bucknell Digital Commons Honors Theses Student Theses Spring 2020 Crystalline architecture and stratigraphy of coral skeletal density banding: a geobiological record of changing coral reef ecology Kyle Fouke Bucknell University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses Part of the Geochemistry Commons, Geology Commons, and the Sedimentology Commons Recommended Citation Fouke, Kyle, "Crystalline architecture and stratigraphy of coral skeletal density banding: a geobiological record of changing coral reef ecology" (2020). Honors Theses. 527. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/527 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Bucknell Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Bucknell Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CRYSTALLINE ARCHITECTURE AND STRATIGRAPHY OF CORAL SKELETAL DENSITY BANDING: A GEOBIOLOGICAL RECORD OF CHANGING CORAL REEF ECOLOGY by Kyle W. Fouke A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Bucknell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelors of Science With Honors in Geology April 9, 2020 Approved by: Adviser: Professor Jeffrey M. Trop Second Evaluator: ________________________________________ Professor Carl Kirby iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor Professor Jeffrey Trop for his guidance and his commitment to advising and teaching me in the classroom and the field throughout my four years at Bucknell. It has allowed me to successfully complete this thesis project and leave Bucknell a confident geologist. I deeply appreciate his willingness to allow me to conduct a research project on coral skeletons. Thank you to the faculty and staff in the Bucknell Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences. I would especially like to thank Carilee Dill and Brad Jordan as both of them were sturdy resources and supporters for me and work hard every day to make the department run smoothly and effectively. I deeply appreciate Professor Carl Kirby being the second reader for my senior thesis and sharing his expertise about geochemistry for the project and in his classroom. I am very grateful to Professor Mary Beth Gray for letting me be her Teaching Assistant for two semesters to help me become a better teacher in the geosciences. I am grateful for the hard work of Professor Trop, Professor Chris Daniel, Professor Gray, and Professor Ellen Chamberlin in developing multiple spring break trips to the southwest to deepen my understanding of the Earth, become comfortable in geologic field mappings, and giving me the opportunity to make truly meaningful relationships with the faculty and other students. I am very grateful to Professor Kelly Bickel who served as the third reader on my senior thesis honors thesis committee. This project could not have been completed without the help of excellent scientists and researchers outside of the Bucknell campus. Mark Vermeij and the CARMABI staff on Curaçao for their help in my field collection and providing adequate lab space and v dormitories to conduct intense field collection of the coral heads. I also wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Dr. Mayandi Sivaguru (Shiv), Associate Director of the Microscopy and Imaging Core in the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply appreciate the tremendous effort and support he puts forth for my senior thesis and scientific career. Furthermore, I would like to recognize Dr. Peter Yau who has helped me start my scientific career during the summers I spent in his lab where his mentoring left a wonderful impact on me that has helped me to this day and into the future. Lastly, I could not have completed this project without the incredible people that I have met at Bucknell and my family. Thank you to all the Geopalz who took over room 105 in the basement of O’Leary with me over my four years at Bucknell. Everyone truly made that computer lab feel like home and I will always look back on the wonderful times spent with the geology students. Shout out to Ali, Sam, Sam, and Matylda that came to Bucknell with a declared geology major with me. I will deeply appreciate Evan Filion and Matylda Zaklicki who were the other Sedheads who endured the grind and late nights in O’Leary and on Zoom in completing a senior thesis with me. Our respective senior thesis projects brought us closer together and I wouldn’t want any other people by my side in this endeavor. Additionally, I am very grateful for Matt, John, Andrew, and Evan who have become my brothers after countless of hours of laughter, rain, yelling, joking, and trail singing in the Adirondacks and other wildernesses around the United States. These guys helped me stay sane and pulled me out of continuous work to have some fun during my senior thesis. I am also extremely grateful to Ellie Covert for loving me and continually vi making me be the best person that I can be. She made sure that I got adequate sleep and stayed healthy through the stressful moments and always knew how to cheer me up through the sad times. She was there for me when I needed her and I would not want to share the life-changing experiences and moments that I had with her at Bucknell with anyone else. Thank you, Ellie from the bottom of my heart. And I couldn’t finish this project with the support of my dad, mom, and my sisters Kaitlyn and Courtney. My parents give me unconditional love and support every day that I am truly grateful for as they push me to try my best every day and have shown me the world. Thank you, Dad for being the professor Dad that any kid would want. Thank you, Mom for the passionate support and amazing home cooking as I had to shift to online classes. I am grateful for the goofballs that I call my sisters who always know how to make me laugh and support me through good ol’ fashion family love. This research was supported by grants from the Geological Society of America and the Evolving Earth Foundation. Orbicella annularis specimens were collected under permits issued from the Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity (CARMABI) laboratory, and the Curaҫao Ministry of the Health, Environment, and Nature. In addition, I sincerely appreciate receiving the PK2006 O. annularis head sample from the Fouke Research Group at the Carl. R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 2 MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................................ 6 Geobiological Setting of Curaçao ...................................................................... 6 Choice of O. annularis as a Model Organism for Studies of CSDB ................. 10 Sample Sites and Field Collection ..................................................................... 11 SCUBA Collection of O. annularis ................................................................... 14 MicroCT and X-Ray Analyses .......................................................................... 12 Quantitative Analyses of CSDB in MicroCT and X-Ray .................................. 15 Thin Sectioning and Optical Microscopy .......................................................... 16 Image Processing ............................................................................................... 17 RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 18 CSDB Stratigraphy ............................................................................................ 18 Comparison of HDB Layers Between Coral Heads .......................................... 28 Original Skeleton Structure and Nomenclature of O. annularis ....................... 34 Thickened Skeletal Walls and Dissepiments within HDBs ............................... 41 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................. 47 Skeletal Thickening Forms HDBs ..................................................................... 47 viii CSDB Stratigraphy Reflects Coral Ecology ...................................................... 48 Dynamic Coral Processes Obstruct Correlation of CSDB Sequences .............. 53 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 58 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Geobiological context of Orbicella annularis. ........................................... 8 Figure 2: MicroCT scans of O. annularis heads. ....................................................... 20 Figure 3: X-radiographs of vertical 5 mm-thick slices of O. annularis heads. .......... 22 Figure 4: Inverted X-radiographs of 5 mm-thick slices