The Isotopic Composition of Respired Carbon Dioxide in Scleractinian Corals: Implications for Cycling of Organic Carbon in Corals
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 69, No. 6, pp. 1495–1509, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Elsevier Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0016-7037/05 $30.00 ϩ .00 doi:10.1016/j.gca.2004.09.004 The isotopic composition of respired carbon dioxide in scleractinian corals: Implications for cycling of organic carbon in corals 1, 2 3 4 3 5 PETER K. SWART *, ALINA SZMANT ,JAMES W. PORTER ,RICHARD E. DODGE ,JENNIFER I. TOUGAS , and JOHN R. SOUTHAM 1Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA 2Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 5600 Marvin Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA 3Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA 4National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania, FL, USA 5Department of Geological Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33129, USA (Received March 18, 2004; accepted in revised form September 10, 2004) Abstract—The origin of ␦13C variations within the skeletons of zooxanthellate scleractinian corals is still a ␦13 matter of considerable debate. In particular, the role respired CO2 plays in controlling the eventual Cofthe ␦13 skeleton remains unclear. In this study, the temporal variability of the C of respired CO2 produced by Montastraea faveolata has been measured at approximately monthly intervals over a 1-year period. In these experiments, three corals maintained on a platform at 8 m depth near Molasses Reef in the Florida Keys were incubated in closed chambers for 24-h periods and samples of the incubation water analyzed for the ␦13Cof ⌺ ϳ the dissolved inorganic carbon ( CO2)at 3-h intervals.
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