Stable isotopes and trace elements

The stable isotopic and trace element compositions of coral skeletons provide a wealth of information about past environmental conditions in reef settings. Interpretation of existing proxies continues to be refined, while the development of new proxies is shedding light on a range of environmental parameters. As the number of stable isotopic and trace element records grows, it is becoming increasingly important to view coral records in spatial networks to enhance the climatic interpretations that can be drawn from them. An important aspect of this involves archiving the geochemical data (and appropriate metadata) derived from corals. We refer readers to the NOAA Climatic Data Center Paleoclimatology website (http:// www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/corals.html), which is the premier data archive for scientists interested in understanding natural climate variability and future climate change.