Paleotemperatures From Deep-Sea Corals: Overcoming Vital Effects

Thirty-five azooxanthellate (non-photosynthetic) corals belonging to 18 species were collected at sites ranging from the Norwegian Sea to the Antarctic and of depths ranging from 10 to 5220 m. All specimens showed distinct, well-defined linear correlations between carbonate oxygen and carbon isotopic composition, with slopes ranging from 0.23 to 0.67 (mean 0.45 0.9) and linear correlation r2 values that averaged 0.89. These pronounced isotopic …