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Patterns and Processes of Ancient Reef Crises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2017

Wolfgang Kiessling
Wolfgang Kiessling*
Affiliation:
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humbolds University Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany
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Abstract

Reef crises need to be separated from mass extinctions because they are manifested in reductions of reefal carbonate production rather than elevated extinction rates. The volume of preserved fossil reefs per unit time is perhaps the best accessible metric to assess reefal carbonate production rates in the geologic record. Although this metric is prone to biases introduced by weathering, burial, and sampling, it offers the possibility to analyze general connections between reef crises and mass extinctions. The biases can be partially corrected by looking at short-term variations and by utilizing independent proxies of sampling. Using a comprehensive database of ancient reefs and considering the generally high volatility in reefal carbonate production, we can identify five significant metazoan reef crises in the post-Cambrian Phanerozoic, only three of which correspond to traditional mass extinctions. Ancient reefs crises appear to be due to episodes of rapid CO2 release and warming, rather than cooling or meteorite impacts.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Paleontological Society Papers , Volume 17: Corals and Reefs: Crises, Collapse and Change , October 2011 , pp. 1 - 14
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by The Paleontological Society 

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