Reef-Building Coral Skeletons as Chemical Pollution (Phosphorus) Indicators

The inorganic and total phosphorus concentrations of the skeleton of reef-building corals have been determined on specimens from Bermuda, St Croix and Curacao. Concentrations determined on sub-samples dated by density band growth increments indicate that a record of seawater phosphorus is preserved which, in certain cases, is consistent with the location and time history of sewage and other phorphorus pollution episodes