Coral Oxygen Isotopic Records Capture the 2015/2016 El Niño Event in the Central Equatorial Pacific

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dc.contributor.authorBaum, Julia K.
dc.contributor.authorO'Connor, Gemma K.
dc.contributor.authorCobb, Kim M.
dc.contributor.authorSayani, Hussein R.
dc.contributor.authorAtwood, Alyssa R.
dc.contributor.authorGrothe, Pamela R.
dc.contributor.authorStevenson, Samantha
dc.contributor.authorChen, Tianran
dc.contributor.authorClaar, Danielle C.
dc.contributor.authorHitt, Nicholas T.
dc.contributor.authorLynch-Steiglitz, Jean
dc.contributor.authorMortlock, Richard A.
dc.contributor.authorSchmidt, Gavin A.
dc.contributor.authorWalter, Rachel
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-24T00:17:43Z
dc.date.available2022-02-24T00:17:43Z
dc.date.copyright2021en_US
dc.date.issued2021-12
dc.descriptionWe acknowledge the Republic of Kiribati for granting us permits to collect samples and conduct research on Kiritimati Island (number 005/13), provided by the Environment and Conservation Division. We especially thank Tiito Teabi for his support and expertise in the field on numerous expeditions to Kiritimati from 2012 to 2016.en_US
dc.description.abstractCoral oxygen isotopes (δ18O) from the central equatorial Pacific provide monthly resolved records of El Niño-Southern Oscillation activity over past centuries to millennia. However, calibration studies using in situ data to assess the relative contributions of warming and freshening to coral δ18O records are exceedingly rare. Furthermore, the fidelity of coral δ18O records under the most severe thermal stress events is difficult to assess. Here, we present six coral δ18O records and in situ temperature, salinity, and seawater δ18O data from Kiritimati Island (2°N, 157°W) spanning the very strong 2015/16 El Niño event. Local sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies of +2.4 ± 0.4°C and seawater δ18O anomalies of −0.19 ± 0.02‰ contribute to the observed coral δ18O anomalies of −0.58 ± 0.05‰, consistent with a ∼70% contribution from SST and ∼30% from seawater δ18O. Our results demonstrate that Kiritimati coral δ18O records can provide reliable reconstructions even during the largest class of El Niño events. Plain Language Summary Oxygen isotope anomalies in coral skeletons are a well-established proxy for changes in tropical Pacific Ocean temperature variations, which have a profound impact on weather extremes around the planet. However, only a handful of calibrations exist that quantify the relationship between ocean temperature and coral oxygen isotopic composition at a given site, especially across extreme events where this relationship may vary most strongly. Here we compare ocean temperature data from loggers installed on the reef at Kiritimati Island (2°N, 157°W) to coral oxygen isotopic records spanning the record-breaking 2015/16 El Niño event. We find that oxygen isotopes in corals provide accurate reconstructions of ocean temperature extremes during this very strong El Niño event, with ∼70% of the signal originating from ocean temperature and the remainder from increased rainfall.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by National Science Foundation Awards 1502832, 1658182, 1635068, 1836645, to K. M. Cobb, 1446343 to S. Stevenson, 1446274 to J. K. Baum, and 9802056 (Moana Wave Cruise). Additional funding from a Georgia Tech Presidential Undergraduate Research Award and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship was used to support G. K. O’Connor.en_US
dc.identifier.citationO’Connor, G. K., Cobb, K. M., Sayani, H. R., Atwood, A. R., Grothe, P. R., Stevenson, S., et al. (2021). Coral oxygen isotopic records capture the 2015/2016 El Niño event in the central equatorial Pacific. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(24). https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094036en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094036
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/13757
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherGeophysical Research Lettersen_US
dc.subjectPacific Ocean temperature variations
dc.subjectcoral oxygen isotopic composition
dc.subjectEl Niño
dc.subject2015/16 temperature variations
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Biology
dc.titleCoral Oxygen Isotopic Records Capture the 2015/2016 El Niño Event in the Central Equatorial Pacificen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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