Much like geological layers that preserve invaluable information about Earth’s past conditions, corals serve as repositories of oceanic data. Biologist Natan Pereira explains that the exoskeletons of these organisms retain extensive data on sea surface temperature (SST) over the years. Natan is a Biological Sciences professor at the State University of Bahia. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in Geosciences from the Federal University of Pernambuco. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and also spent time as a visiting researcher at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland in the USA. To break away from his routine, Natan indulges in sports and culinary activities.
Natan Silva Pereira
Geosciences
Projects
Corals harbor geochemical data that serve as environmental indicators, such as sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, and CO2 levels. The exoskeleton of these organisms acts as a natural repository, preserving information about the climatic conditions of tropical regions over decades or even centuries. This feature positions corals as a promising resource for understanding the ongoing climate crisis. The primary objectives of this proposal are twofold: (i) To gather multiple records of Strontium/calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and isotopic δ18O from corals in order to reconstruct the SST over the past decades at two sites in Northeast Brazil (Maracajaú, Rio Grande do Norte and Tamandaré, Pernambuco). This data will be used to identify anomalies in SST that correlate with climate oscillation events such as ENSO and ITCZ displacement and subsequently link these anomalies with water stress events in the Brazilian semi-arid region. (ii) To examine the variation in anthropogenic pollutants recorded over recent decades in the two regions by assessing the lead/calcium (Pb/Ca) content in the coral exoskeleton.
