Sedimentary phosphorus deposits in a southern Caribbean gulf during the last millennium

Title: Sedimentary Phosphorus and Granulometric Records from the Gulf of Urabá Spanning the Last Millennium Authors: Rúa et al. Description: This dataset contains geochemical and granulometric records from three sediment cores retrieved from the Gulf of Urabá (Caribbean Sea, Colombia), encompassing the last ~1,000 years. The data were collected to investigate long-term variations in sedimentary phosphorus (P) forms and their relationship with climate variability, land use change, and ecological risk. The dataset supports the manuscript entitled \"Long-term sedimentary phosphorus dynamics in a tropical estuary shaped by climate variability and land use change.\" Each core was analyzed for: Total Phosphorus (TP) in mg P g⁻¹ dry sediment Organic Phosphorus (OP) in mg P g⁻¹ dry sediment Inorganic Phosphorus (IP) in mg P g⁻¹ dry sediment Granulometric composition: median particle size (μm), and proportion of clay, silt, and sand fractions (%) Radiometric Dating and Chronological Control: Age-depth models based on geochemical markers and luminescence, with calibrated calendar years (CE) Core Depth: in cm Climatic periods based on core stratigraphy and age models: MWP: Medieval Warm Period LIA: Little Ice Age CWP: Contemporary Warm Period Ecological Risk Assessment Index (PERI): Calculated using TP levels and established ecological thresholds to assess the potential for eutrophication and benthic degradation Sampling Sites: León River Mouth (Core A) – Highly fluvial-influenced, high OP accumulation Atrato Delta Front (Core B) – Mixed fluvial–marine regime Prodelta (Core C) – Marine-dominated, lower sedimentation rates Temporal Coverage: ~1050 CE to 2000 CE Spatial Coverage: Gulf of Urabá, Colombian Caribbean Use: The dataset is suitable for environmental geochemistry, climate-change studies, estuarine ecology, and sediment provenance analyses. File format: XLSX (Excel spreadsheet)