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Coral Skeletons
Ocean coral are very sensitive to changes in sea-surface temperatures (SST). Given
constant
sea water O18 concentration and biological processes, variability in the oxygen
isotopic composition (O18) of coralline aragonite is a function of the sea surface temperature
in which the coral secreted its skeleton. Therefore measurements of O18 in the layered
structure of the coral is a proxy record of sea-surface temperature. Data on
coral from several locations
can be found at the NOAA site .
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