Errina fissurata stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from Adare Basin, Ross Sea

The Errina fissurata coral specimens for this study were collected aboard the U.S. Antarctic Program expedition NBP07-01 near Cape Adare in the western Ross Sea. Seamounts on the outer continental shelf were dredged at a water depth ranging 400 m to 600 m and the corals used here were from the fifth through seventh dredges (D05–D07). The recovered corals were predominantly stylasterids (Errina spp.). Specimens were recovered both alive and dead (as evidenced by their pigmentation), some with growth tips intact. For this study, one live-collected and one dead-collected E. fissurata were selected for isotopic analyses (EA-11 and EA-12, respectively), targeting the longest whole specimens ranging from ~9 to 10 cm long. Coral specimens were sliced perpendicular to their vertical growth axes and the flat horizontal surfaces were sampled for stable oxygen and carbon isotope analyses. These analyses were designed to map the isotopic values across the coral and determine regions where the vital effects would obscure an environmental signal and inform future paleotemperature reconstructions.