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A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.

A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.
A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.
A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.
A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.
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144447
Hughen, Konrad A.
A large brain coral on a coral reef in the Red Sea.
Still Image
05/25/2008
graphics/redsea_konrad/IMG_0562.jpg
Image Of the Day caption:
WHOI paleoclimatologist Konrad Hughen studies the history of Earth's changing climateusing corals. The tiny living coral animals, known as polyps, lay down a new layer of calcium carbonate skeleton each year, just as trees produce annual growth rings. By analyzing the chemical make-up of cores he extracts from coral colonies, Hughen can estimate how water temperatures have changed over the past several hundred years. Hughen normally drills cores from fast-growing Porites species, but the skeletons of large brain corals such as this Red Sea Diploria also contain a history of climate change.
2009 Calendar caption:
Brain coral colonies can live for hundreds of years and grow to be several feet across. The skeletons of ancient colonies preserve a record of environmental and climate changes during their lifetimes that scientists can decipher using geochemical techniques. The old colony shown here was damaged earlier in life, but continued to grow in this unusual form to three feet in siz
Photo by Konrad Hughen
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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