Response to Comment on "Preindustrial to Modern Interdecadal Variability in Coral Reef pH"

Coral reefs are exceptional environments where changes in calcification, photosynthesis, and respiration induce large temporal variations of pH. We argue that boron isotopic variations in corals provide a robust proxy for paleo-pH which, together with the likely concomitant changes in the reconstructed partial pressure of CO2 (PCO2) calculated by Matear and McNeil, fall within ranges that are typical of modern coral reef ecosystems.

[1]  E. Calvo,et al.  Preindustrial to Modern Interdecadal Variability in Coral Reef pH , 2005, Science.

[2]  A. Grottoli Effect of light and brine shrimp on skeletal δ13C in the Hawaiian coral Porites compressa: a tank experiment , 2002 .

[3]  H. Schwarcz,et al.  Separation of kinetic and metabolic isotope effects in carbon-13 records preserved in reef coral skeletons , 2000 .

[4]  S. V. Smith,et al.  Measurement of community metabolism and significance in the coral reef CO2 source-sink debate. , 1999, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  A. Grottoli,et al.  Effect of light and zooplankton on skeletal δ13C values in the eastern Pacific corals Pavona clavus and Pavona gigantea , 1999, Coral Reefs.

[6]  C. Paull,et al.  CARBON ISOTOPES IN BIOLOGICAL CARBONATES : RESPIRATION AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS , 1997 .

[7]  J. Gattuso,et al.  Carbon fluxes in coral reefs. II. Eulerian study of inorganic carbon dynamics and measurement of air-sea CO2 exchanges , 1996 .

[8]  R. Dodge,et al.  The origin of variations in the isotopic record of scleractinian corals: II. Carbon , 1996 .

[9]  W. Broecker,et al.  The influence of air‐sea exchange on the isotopic composition of oceanic carbon: Observations and modeling , 1995 .

[10]  H. Kayanne,et al.  The mechanism of production enhancement in coral reef carbonate systems: model and empirical results , 1995 .

[11]  J. Gattuso,et al.  Community metabolism and air-sea C02 fluxes in a coral reef ecosystem (Moorea, French Polynesia) , 1993 .

[12]  F. Swanson,et al.  Diurnal variations in the carbonate saturation of seawater , 1969 .

[13]  R. Woesik,et al.  Carbon dioxide flux and metabolic processes of a coral reef, Okinawa , 1999 .