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doi:10.2204/iodp.pr.325.2010

Introduction

The timing and courses of deglaciations are considered an essential component for understanding the dynamics of large ice sheets (Lindstrom and MacAyeal, 1993; Denton et al., 2010) and their effects on Earth's isostasy (Nakada and Lambeck, 1987; Lambeck, 1993; Peltier, 1994). Moreover, the disappearance of glacial ice sheets was responsible for dramatic changes in the freshwater fluxes to the oceans, which disturbed the thermohaline circulation and hence global climate (e.g., Stocker and Wright, 1991). Coral reefs are excellent sea level indicators, and their accurate dating by mass spectrometry is of prime importance for determining the timing of deglaciation events and thus for understanding the mechanisms driving the glacial–interglacial as well as millennial scale cycles. Furthermore, scleractinian coral colonies can monitor sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) and other oceanographic parameters (e.g., salinity and sediment run-off), and fossil corals can be used as recorders of past variations in these parameters. Finally, assessing the impact of sea level and paleoclimate changes on fossil coral reefs may represent an important advance in understanding how coral reef systems—in particular the Great Barrier Reef—respond to environmental stress.

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