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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Journal of Sedimentary Research (SEPM)
Abstract
The Effect of Seawater Calcium Concentrations on the Growth and Skeletal Composition of a Scleractinian Coral: Acropora Squamosa
Peter K. Swart
ABSTRACT
Corals of the species Acropora squamosa were grown in seawater spiked to varying degrees with calcium chloride. The rate of new growth was measured and it's composition (calcium, strontium, magnesium, and sodium) determined by electron microprobe analysis.
Growth rate increased greatly with a moderate (25%) increase in Ca2+ concentration but this increase was less marked at still higher Ca2+ levels. The growth rate declined at concentrations above a 50% increase This suggests that Ca2+ may limit growth at concentrations near seawater but that at higher Ca2+ levels more complex dependencies exist.
The Sr2+/Ca2+ ratio in the new growth proved to reflect that in solution. The same trend was followed to some extent by magnesium but sodium showed no variation at all. This demonstrates clearly that some but by no means all elemental variation in seawater is likely to be reflected in the composition of scleractinian corals.
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