Browsing by Author "Erler, DV"

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    Evolution of the Great Barrier Reef Halimeda carbonate factory in response to Holocene environmental changes, determined from radiocarbon and nitrogen isotope measurements
    (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-17) McNeil, M; Hua, Q; Erler, DV; Nothdurft, LD; Webster, JM; Moss, P
    The inter-reef Halimeda algal bioherms of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) have accumulated up to 25 m of positive relief and up to four times greater volume of calcium carbonate than the nearby coral reefs during the Holocene. Covering > 6000 km² on the continental shelf, the Halimeda bioherms represent a significant contribution to the development of the northeast Australian neritic carbonate factory and sedimentary archive of post-glacial environmental changes. However, the geochronological record of initiation and development of the Halimeda bioherm carbonate factory throughout the Holocene was poorly constrained and based on very few radiocarbon dates, considering their vast area. Additionally, the main source of nitrogen (N) fuelling the productivity of these biogenic structures had not been traced geochemically, and there was no understanding of any temporal variation. A total of 63 samples of calcium carbonate Halimeda and foraminifera grains, mollusc shells, and bulk soil were dated by ¹⁴ C AMS using the VEGA facility at the ANSTO Centre for Accelerator Science. Changes in the terrestrial vegetation community were determined from palynological analysis at the University of Queensland. Nitrogen isotopes were measured on a subset of 27 Halimeda samples using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) at the Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry at Southern Cross University. Using the persulfate-denitrifier method previously developed for foraminifera and coral skeletal material, nitrogen bound within the Halimeda skeletal organic material (SOM) was targeted. This allowed for fossil samples down-core to be analysed, thus providing a 5000-year record of Halimeda δ¹⁵ N-SOM. A temporal sequence of facies transitions that record terrestrial and marine environmental changes over a full sea level cycle from the Last Interglacial, to Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and deglacial, to transgressive estuarine sediments and shallow marine carbonates was reconstructed. Halimeda growth and carbonate deposition had established by 11,143 (+237/-277) cal. yr BP, just ~450 years after the marine transgression. The Halimeda carbonate factory was productive at least 2100 years earlier than Holocene coral reefs in the study area. Our results provide the first direct in-situ measurements of Halimeda bioherm ages from at or near the Holocene/Pleistocene boundary, recording the timing of bioherm initiation in response to post-glacial sea level rise. The average Halimeda skeletal δ¹⁵ N-SOM was 6.28 ± 0.26 ‰, consistent with δ¹⁵ N-NO₃ - from western tropical South Pacific (WTSP) thermocline waters, geochemically validating shelf-break upwelling of an oceanic N source. From 5000 to 2000 cal. yr BP, Halimeda δ¹⁵ N-SOM decreased by 1-2 ‰, reaching a minima of 5.5 ‰ that persisted for almost 1000 years. The Halimeda δ¹⁵ N-SOM variation reflects changes in regional climate and intensified El Niño activity and is consistent with other regional climate proxy records at this time. Thus, the inter-reef Halimeda algal bioherms of the GBR are an important carbonate ecosystem that record a >10,000-year near-continuous record of northeast Australian Holocene oceanographic and environmental changes in response to sea level and climatic drivers, potentially filling spatial and temporal gaps not covered by coral and other proxies. © The Authors
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    Has nitrogen supply to coral reefs in the south Pacific Ocean changed over the past 50 thousand years?
    (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2019-03-28) Erler, DV; Shepherd, BO; Linsley, BK; Nothdurft, LD; Hua, Q; Lough, JM
    Tropical islands can facilitate surface ocean biological productivity by enhancing the supply of nitrogen to the euphotic zone. Yet in the world's most oligotrophic oceanic region, the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre (SPSG), this “island mass effect” appears diminished. If this is the case, where did island coral reefs in the SPSG get their nitrogen from, and has this changed over time? Here we use coral skeleton isotopes (δ15N and δ18O) and element/Ca ratios to identify the sources of nitrogen to a late Pleistocene coral reef in the SPSG (Cook Islands); we then compare these results to modern corals in the same region. The supply of nitrogen to the late Pleistocene reef appears dominated by upwelling of subsurface nitrogen during cool dry events, supplemented with nitrogen from island-induced N2 fixation (27 ± 3%) during warm wet periods. For the modern corals, N2 fixation supplies nitrogen to the island reefs during cool dry periods with groundwater providing nitrogen during wet periods. We propose that the subsurface supply of nitrogen to the modern reefs has declined as a result of reduced upwelling but this supply has been replaced with increasing nitrogen discharge from groundwater and an increase in island-induced N2 fixation. ©2019 American Geophysical Union