Coralline Algae Yields Valuable Clues on Climate Change
[caption id=”attachment_8203" align=”aligncenter” width=”432" caption=”Source: NOAA.gov”]
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HALIFAX — A little-known marine organism on Canada’s East Coast contains what a team of U.S. and Canadian scientists believes is a rich, untapped archive of temperature data, which could vastly improve the world’s understanding of climate change.
Scientists spent the past summer on an expedition ship along the coast of Newfoundland, scuba diving in shallow, inshore waters to collect samples of coralline algae, one of the longest-living marine life forms on the planet.
Corallines — specifically Clathromorphum compactum — are a pinkish, coral-like plant that cover parts of the rocky bottom of the coastal sections of the Labrador Sea. They can grow forever, if left undisturbed, and, like trees, their age can be precisely measured by a careful reading of growth bands.
