SUITABILITY OF CORALS FROM THE GURABO FORMATION, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, FOR GEOCHEMICALLY-BASED SST RECONSTRUCTIONS

The impact of the final closure of the Central American Isthmus on late Neogene Caribbean faunal turn-over is not well understood, in part because the paleo-oceanographic conditions of the Caribbean prior to closure of the isthmus (~3 mya) are not well constrained. We have begun investigating fossil corals from the Gurabo Formation (~5 mya) in the Dominican Republic in order to obtain high-resolution paleo-sea surface temperature information prior to final closure. Initial analyses reveal that some corals are diagenetically unaltered and appear to reliably preserve sea surface temperature data via their geochemical signatures (oxygen isotopic ratios).