Other
Scientific paper
Oct 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000georl..27.3029s&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 27, Issue 19, p. 3029-3032
Other
38
Global Change, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Pollution-Urban And Regional, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Pressure, Density, And Temperature, Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Troposphere-Constituent Transport And Chemistry
Scientific paper
The vitality of Caribbean coral reefs has undergone a continual state of decline since the late 1970s, a period of time coincidental with large increases in transatlantic dust transport. It is proposed that the hundreds of millions of tons/year of soil dust that have been crossing the Atlantic during the last 25 years could be a significant contributor to coral reef decline and may be affecting other ecosystems. Benchmark events, such as near synchronous Caribbean-wide mortalities of acroporid corals and the urchin Diadema in 1983, and coral bleaching beginning in 1987, correlate with the years of maximum dust flux into the Caribbean. Besides crustal elements, in particular Fe, Si, and aluminosilicate clays, the dust can serve as a substrate for numerous species of viable spores, especially the soil fungus Aspergillus. Aspergillus sydowii, the cause of an ongoing Caribbean-wide seafan disease, has been cultured from Caribbean air samples and used to inoculate sea fans.
Barber Richard T.
Betzer Peter
Garrison Virginia
Hayes Marshall L.
Prospero Joseph M.
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