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Indian Ocean Dipole index recorded in Kenyan coral annual density bands
Author(s) -
Kayanne Hajime,
Iijima Hiroko,
Nakamura Nobuko,
McClanahan Timothy R.,
Behera Swadhin,
Yamagata Toshio
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl027168
Subject(s) - coral , indian ocean dipole , isotopes of oxygen , precipitation , oceanography , climatology , kenya , environmental science , δ18o , indian ocean , geology , geography , stable isotope ratio , meteorology , ecology , biology , geochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which governs climate variability not only over the Indian Ocean but also globally, produces precipitation anomalies in the East African short rain period from October to November. These precipitation anomalies were recorded in annual bands from a coral core obtained in the Malindi Marine Park, Kenya. A signature of the IOD in precipitation was detected in the coral core by luminescence intensity under UV light and by oxygen isotope values dated to January, a few months after the short rain period. Anomalies of the oxygen isotope values correlated well with high and low precipitation, which were related to positive and negative IOD indices, respectively. This study suggests that the coral annual band record is effective for reconstructing IOD events and should be able to reconstruct the IOD record prior to instrumental observations.