Massive corals are used as environmental recorders throughout the tropics and subtropics to study environmental variability during time periods preceding ocean-observing instrumentation. However, careful testing of paleoproxies is necessary to validate the environmental-proxy record throughout a range of conditions experienced by the recording organisms. As part of the USGS Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/), we tested the hypothesis that the coral Siderastrea siderea faithfully records sea-surface temperature (SST) in the Sr/Ca record throughout the subtropical (Florida, USA) seasonal cycle along 350 km of reef tract. The datasets included in this data release are comprised of data collected between 2009 and 2013. Coral samples were analyzed from thirty-nine corals growing in 3- to 4-meter water depths at Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), and Pulaski Shoal (Dry Tortugas National Park). Temperatures were recorded with Onset® HOBO® Water Temp Pro V2 (U22-001) data loggers in duplicate at each site. Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, calcification rate, and select underwater temperature data are provided here. The results of this experiment are interpreted in Kuffner and others (2017). A larger temperature dataset, including the data provided here, is found in another data release Kuffner (2016), and a larger calcification-rate dataset is interpreted in Kuffner and others (2013).

This data release includes new sub annual and mean annual Sr/Ca records from two species of massive coral, Orbicella faveolata (coral B3) and Siderastrea siderea (coral CG2), from the Dry Tortugas National Park, FL (DTNP). We combine these new records with published Sr/Ca data from three additional S. siderea coral (DeLong et al., 2014) to generate a 278-year long multi-species stacked Sr/Ca-SST record from DRTO.

This data release includes new sub annual and mean annual Sr/Ca records from two species of massive coral, Orbicella faveolata (coral B3) and Siderastrea siderea (coral CG2), from the Dry Tortugas National Park, FL (DTNP). We combine these new records with published Sr/Ca data from three additional S. siderea coral (DeLong et al., 2014) to generate a 278-year long multi-species stacked Sr/Ca-SST record from DRTO.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2020 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS, site terminated in 2013), Crocker Reef (FKNMS, site added in 2013), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), Pulaski Shoal Light (Dry Tortugas National Park), and Pulaski Shoal West (Dry Tortugas National Park, site added in 2016). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2020 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS, site terminated in 2013), Crocker Reef (FKNMS, site added in 2013), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), Pulaski Shoal Light (Dry Tortugas National Park), and Pulaski Shoal West (Dry Tortugas National Park, site added in 2016). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2020 at six off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS, site terminated in 2013), Crocker Reef (FKNMS, site added in 2013), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), Pulaski Shoal Light (Dry Tortugas National Park), and Pulaski Shoal West (Dry Tortugas National Park, site added in 2016). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2017 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS), Crocker Reef (FKNMS), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), and Pulaski Shoal (Dry Tortugas National Park). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2017 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS), Crocker Reef (FKNMS), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), and Pulaski Shoal (Dry Tortugas National Park). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2017 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS), Crocker Reef (FKNMS), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), and Pulaski Shoal (Dry Tortugas National Park). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies (CREST) project (https://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/) provides science that helps resource managers tasked with the stewardship of coral reef resources. Coral reef organisms are very sensitive to high and low water-temperature extremes. It is critical to precisely know water temperatures experienced by corals and associated plants and animals that live in the dynamic nearshore environment to document thresholds in temperature tolerance. This dataset provides underwater temperature data recorded every fifteen minutes from 2009 to 2018 at five off-shore coral reefs in the Florida Keys, USA. From northeast to southwest, these sites are Fowey Rocks (Biscayne National Park), Molasses Reef (Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, FKNMS), Crocker Reef (FKNMS), Sombrero Reef (FKNMS), and Pulaski Shoal (Dry Tortugas National Park). A portion of the dataset included here was interpreted in conjunction with coral and algal calcification rates in Kuffner and others (2013).