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Coral Microatolls From The Central Pacific Record Late Holocene El Nino, Colin Woodroffe, Michael K. Gagan
Coral Microatolls From The Central Pacific Record Late Holocene El Nino, Colin Woodroffe, Michael K. Gagan
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A
Microatolls are discoid corals that have grown laterally because vertical growth is constrained by exposure at lowest tides. We demonstrate that a modern reef-flat Porites microatoll from Christmas (Kiritimati) Island preserves an oxygen isotope record of substantial sea surface temperature variations related to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We also show that a late Holocene fossil microatoll from the centre of the island contains interannual oxygen isotope variations over an approximate 20-year period. Three pronounced negative isotope anomalies attributed to warm El Niño events are superimposed on an annual cycle. El Niño events similar to those seen in recent decades appear …