A rock-magnetic study of coral skeletons: A record of African dust deposition in the Caribbean
Abstract
Aeolian African dust from the Saharan-Sahel deserts significantly influences the climate and ecology of the Caribbean region. Large summer dust storms produce mass quantities of air-born, clay-rich material (containing significant iron-oxide components), that are transported over the Atlantic Ocean and deposited in the Caribbean. We present here the results of a rock magnetic study of cores of Scleractinian corals, including a Montastraea annularis collected in Culebra, Puerto Rico on July of 1991, a M. faveolata collected off the coast of St. Vincent (Bequia) on November of 2002, and a Siderastrea radians collected off the coast of Cape Verde on July of 2002. Thin slabs (~5mm) were cut from these cores and x-rayed to reveal annual density banding. Small samples centered over each annual high-density band were cut from the slabs. These samples were then subjected to a series of standard rock magnetic experiments, including Anhysteretic Remanent Magnetization (ARM) acquisition and demagnetization, and Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (IRM) acquisition and demagnetization. Records of both ARMs and IRMs reveal coherent signals that vary with coral age. The IRM acquisition curves demonstrate the presence of two carriers of magnetization in most samples; a low-coercivity component consistent with the presence of magnetite or maghemite and a high-coercivity component consistent with the presence of hematite. Unmixing the IRM acquisition curves differentiates the magnetic components and yields a record of high-coercivity input that we interpret as a record of African dust. Preliminary data from the M. annularis core show a link between high and low variability in the high-coercivity component when compared with the historical record of dust flux to the Caribbean and with the Soudano-Sahel Precipitation Index (SSPI) over a time period of fifty years (1941-1990). High variability is displayed from 1941 through 1950 and 1965 through 1990 whereas low variability is displayed from 1951 through 1964. Because the record of measured African dust only extends to the mid 1960s, rock-magnetic studies of coral may provide a viable approach for assessing the effects of dust events on past climates and ecology.
- Publication:
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AGU Spring Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- May 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUSMGP41C..03N
- Keywords:
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- 1512 Environmental magnetism;
- 1519 Magnetic mineralogy and petrology;
- 1540 Rock and mineral magnetism