A critical evaluation of coral Ba/Ca, Mn/Ca and Y/Ca ratios as indicators of terrestrial input: New data from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Coral trace element proxies of terrestrial runoff are widely applied to document and quantify historical changes in river discharge, constituent loads and land disturbance. However, some studies show poor replication between trace element records where cores from multiple coral colonies have been analyzed. Conflicting interpretations also exist on the environmental variable the coral trace element proxy is recording. Indeed, few studies have...