Coral Ba/Ca records of sediment input to the fringing reef of the southshore of Moloka'i, Hawai'i over the last several decades

N.G. Prouty; M.E. Field; J. D. Stock; S.D. Jupiter; M. McCulloch

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.05.024

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Coral Ba/Ca records of sediment input to the fringing reef of the southshore of Moloka'i, Hawai'i over the last several decades

N.G. Prouty·M.E. Field·J. D. Stock·S.D. Jupiter·M. McCulloch

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Abstract

The fringing reef of southern Moloka’i is perceived to be in decline because of land-based pollution. In the absence of historical records of sediment pollution, ratios of coral Ba/Ca were used to test the hypothesis that sedimentation has increased over time. Baseline Ba/Ca ratios co-vary with the abundance of red, terrigenous sediment visible in recent imagery. The highest values at One Ali’i are near one of the muddiest parts of the reef. This co-varies with the lowest growth rate of all the sites, perhaps because the upstream Kawela watershed was historically leveed all the way to the nearshore, providing a fast-path for sediment delivery. Sites adjacent to small, steep watersheds have ∼decadal periodicities whereas sites adjacent to mangrove forests have shorter-period fluctuations that correspond to the periodicity of sediment transport in the nearshore, rather than the watershed. All four sites show a statistically significant upward trend in Ba/Ca.

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Marine Pollution Bulletin Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 21.0462° to 21.2241° latitude; -157.3108° to -156.7097° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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N.G. Prouty, M.E. Field, J. D. Stock, S.D. Jupiter, M. McCulloch. 2010. Coral Ba/Ca records of sediment input to the fringing reef of the southshore of Moloka'i, Hawai'i over the last several decades. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.05.024

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