The Big Island of Hawaii (Source: J. Webster)

Attention all coral reef researchers. A call is now open for the submission of abstracts to the 13^th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) to be held 19–24 JUNE 2016 • HONOLULU, HAWAI’I. The ICRS is the biggest conference focused on coral reef science and management, touching on all aspects of the biology, geology and human geography associated with reefs across all spatio-temporal scales.

Gilbert Camoin and I will be convening a special mini-Symposium entitled “Coral reef records of sea level, climatic and environmental changes : a tribute to Lucien Montaggioni”. More details below but this will be fascinating session that spans the broad themes of reef geology and geomorphology, sea level and paleo-environmental reconstructions, sedimentology and paleoecology, as well as numerical modelling.

We invite you to submit online an abstract of up to 250 words to the Mini-Symposium. The abstract submission will close on January 15th, 2016. Your abstract will be considered for an oral or poster presentation. Further information about submitting an abstract will be available soon online. http://sgmeet.com/icrs2016/default.asp. Please free to circulate this announcement among colleagues potentially interested by this Mini-Symposium. We look forward to receiving your abstract and to seeing you in Hawaii for what could be an amazing Mini-Symposium.

Best regards,

Gilbert CAMOIN and Jody WEBSTER

Mini Symposium : “Coral reef records of sea level, climatic and environmental changes : a tribute to Lucien Montaggioni”

Conveners: Gilbert Camoin, Jody Webster

Coral reef systems are key recorders of both sea-level and associated environmental changes but, in turn, their geometry, composition and evolution are also directly impacted by these factors. They provide reliable estimates of past relative sea level because reef communities live in a specific depth ranges and can be useful as absolute sea-level indicators. Reef corals can also be accurately dated using multiple techniques (e.g. 14C, U/Th), thus enabling the record of sea-level timing, amplitude and stratigraphic response on a wide range of frequencies. Tropical coral reefs are also highly sensitive to variations in water chemistry and physical factors, and represent valuable recorders of past climatic and environmental changes. High-resolution records of past global changes (e.g. SST, SSS and pH) are stored in the geochemical and physical parameters of coral skeletons, are used to examine oceanic and atmospheric variability and interactions. Changing environmental parameters, such as light conditions, turbidity, water energy and nutrient levels are also typically reflected in variations in the composition of reef communities. This session will pay tribute to the life’s work of Lucien Montaggioni, and will encourage contributions that span the broad, interdisciplinary themes of reef geology and geomorphology, sea level and paleo-environmental reconstructions, sedimentology and paleoecology, as well as numerical modelling.