Coral reef development in response to large amplitude internal waves and monsoon impact ...

• Main Authors: Wall, Marlene, Schmidt, Gertraud, Janjang, Pornpang, Khokiattiwong, Somkiat, Richter, Claudio
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification BIOACID; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.831254; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831254

The Andaman Sea and other macrotidal semi-enclosed tropical seas feature large amplitude internal waves (LAIW). Although LAIW induce strong fluctuations i.e. of temperature, pH, and nutrients, their influence on reef development is so far unknown. A better-known source of disturbance is the monsoon affecting corals due to turbulent mixing and sedimentation. Because in the Andaman Sea both, LAIW and monsoon, act from the same westerly direction their relative contribution to reef development is difficult to discern. Here, we explore the framework development in a number of offshore island locations subjected to differential LAIW- and SW-monsoon impact to address this open question. Cumulative negative temperature anomalies - a proxy for LAIW impact - explained a higher percentage of the variability in coral reef framework height, than sedimentation rates which resulted mainly from the monsoon. Temperature anomalies and sediment grain size provided the best correlation with framework height suggesting that so ... : CalMarO - Calcification by marine organisms, PEOPLE-2007-1-1-ITN Marie Curie Action: 215157BioAcid - German Ministry for Education and Research Project (Bmbf), Grant number 03F0608B, Bioacid 3.2.3, Coral Calcification in marginal reefsORCAS - Ocean Reef Coupling in the Andaman Sea - German Research Foundation (DFG), Grant number RI 1074/7-1 ...