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Mid‐late Holocene El Niño variability in the equatorial Pacific from coral microatolls
Author(s) -
Woodroffe Colin D.,
Beech Matthew R.,
Gagan Michael K.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl015868
Subject(s) - intertropical convergence zone , oceanography , holocene , geology , coral , climatology , teleconnection , el niño southern oscillation , δ18o , paleoclimatology , quaternary , precipitation , stable isotope ratio , geography , climate change , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , meteorology
Oxygen isotope ratios in Porites microatolls from Christmas Island in the central Pacific provide high‐resolution proxy records of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability since 3.8 thousand years ago (ka). Compared with modern microatolls, reconstructions from fossil microatolls imply that interannual variations in ENSO sea‐surface temperature and precipitation were less intense 3.8–2.8 ka, but more pronounced at 1.7 ka. Amplification of ENSO at ∼2 ka is consistent with precessional changes in insolation seasonality, but exceeds model predictions and may reflect stronger rainfall teleconnections through enhanced interaction between the Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zone.