Gorgonian Bamboo Coral

Coral (Keratoisis profunda)

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	This image is of a Gorgonian Coral. Commonly referred to as a bamboo coral (Keratoisis profunda), these colonial marine corals form a rigid skeleton usually composed of both calcite sections and organic nodes. Bamboo corals can be found in both warm/shallow-water and cold/deep-water marine habitats throughout the world's oceans. They can live for hundreds of years, preserving a high-resolution record of environmental conditions throughout the coral's life. This coral was collected alive in September of 2004 off the coast of California (-120.907 W, 33.132 N; 1295 m water depth). Bamboo corals found at intermediate depths (250 to >2000m) along the California margin record the temperature, geochemistry, and ventilation history of North Pacific intermediate waters and can be used as a proxy for the region paleoceanography. The specimen was provided by Tessa Hill. Polygon counts: Original 50,000; 30,000 before compression Time: Holocene Locality: California margin (-120.907 W, 33.132 N; 1295 m water depth) Specimen: T664 A17
Data scanning, postprocessing, and preparation of this web page by: Kathryn Rose

This image is of a Gorgonian Coral. Commonly referred to as a bamboo coral (Keratoisis profunda), these colonial marine corals form a rigid skeleton usually composed of both calcite sections and organic nodes. Bamboo corals can be found in both warm/shallow-water and cold/deep-water marine habitats throughout the world's oceans. They can live for hundreds of years, preserving a high-resolution record of environmental conditions throughout the coral's life. This coral was collected alive in September of 2004 off the coast of California (-120.907 W, 33.132 N; 1295 m water depth). Bamboo corals found at intermediate depths (250 to >2000m) along the California margin record the temperature, geochemistry, and ventilation history of North Pacific intermediate waters and can be used as a proxy for the region paleoceanography.

The specimen was provided by Tessa Hill.

Polygon counts: Original 50,000; 30,000 before compression
Time: Holocene
Locality: California margin (-120.907 W, 33.132 N; 1295 m water depth)
Specimen: T664 A17