Carbon and oxygen isotope time series from an 18-year Caribbean reef coral

Colonies of Montastrea annularis live near La Parguera, Puerto Rico, and may be 700 years old. Time series from 1964 to 1982 of δ13C and δ18O from a continuous core of these corals are compared to an adjacent environmental record. At the intraannual level, δ18O correlates well with water temperature. Changes in the amplitude of the δ18O signal between 1967 and 1976 are attributed to sampling frequency but may be also due to environmental changes such as salinity. Average annual δ18O, δ13C and sea surface temperature show similar trends for the period from 1964 to 1982 but especially from 1969 onwards. Changes in average annual values during this time interval are most likely due to water mass changes brought about by interannual variability of the North Atlantic circulation. Since water temperatures at La Parguera are representative of changes occurring in the wider Caribbean, the isotope record from La Parguera corals could be used as a proxy for large-scale environmental changes beyond the historical record through the Little Ice Age.

[1]  W. M. Gray.  Strong Association Between West African Rainfall and U.S. Landfall of Intense Hurricanes , 1990, Science.

[2]  S. Levitus.  Interpentadal variability of steric sea level and geopotential thickness of the north Atlantic Ocean, 1970–1974 versus 1955–1959 , 1990 .

[3]  H. Schwarcz,et al.  Timing and temperature record from stable isotopes of the 1982-1983 El Nino warming event in eastern Pacific corals , 1988 .

[4]  Ralph J. Slutz,et al.  A Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set , 1987 .

[5]  R. Buddemeier,et al.  The stable isotopic composition of coral skeletons: control by environmental variables☆ , 1981 .

[6]  M. Coleman,et al.  Isotopic data for scleractinian corals explain their palaeotemperature uncertainties , 1980, Nature.

[7]  R. Dodge,et al.  Annual Periodicity of the 18O16O and 13C12C ratios in the coral Montastrea annularis , 1979 .

[8]  R. Dodge,et al.  A 200 year record of carbon-13 and carbon-14 variations in a Bermuda coral , 1978 .

[9]  G. Giese,et al.  Influence of Amazon River discharge on surface salinity and dissolved silicate concentration in the Caribbean Sea , 1978 .

[10]  P. Glynn.  Ecology of a caribbean coral reef. The Porites reef-flat biotope: Part I. Meteorology and hydrography , 1973 .

[11]  R. Buddemeier,et al.  Coral Chronometers: Seasonal Growth Bands in Reef Corals , 1972, Science.

[12]  G. T. Shen,et al.  Trace Element Indicators of Climate Variability in Reef-Building Corals , 1990 .

[13]  R. Dunbar,et al.  Reef-Building Corals and Identification of Enso Warming Episodes , 1990 .

[14]  F. Muller‐Karger,et al.  Pigment distribution in the Caribbean sea: Observations from space , 1989 .

[15]  T. McConnaughey.  13C and 18O isotopic disequilibrium in biological carbonates: I. Patterns , 1989 .

[16]  P. Yoshioka,et al.  Spatial and temporal variations in Caribbean zooplankton near Puerto Rico , 1985 .

[17]  P. Swart.  Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in scleractinian corals: a review , 1983 .

[18]  J. N. Weber,et al.  Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in the skeletal carbonate of reef-building corals , 1970 .