Julie N. Richey
Kaustubh Thirumalai
Richard Z. Poore
Kristine L. DeLong
Jennifer A. Flannery
2017
<p><span>We present new, monthly-resolved Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature (SST) records from two species of massive coral, </span><i>Orbicella faveolata</i><span> and </span><i>Siderastrea siderea,</i><span> from the Dry Tortugas National Park, FL, USA (DTNP). We combine these new records with published data from three additional </span><i>S. siderea</i><span> coral colonies to generate a 278-year long multi-species stacked Sr/Ca-SST record from DTNP. The composite record of mean annual Sr/Ca-SST at DTNP shows pronounced decadal-scale variability with a range of 1 to 2°C. Notable cool intervals in the Sr/Ca-derived SST lasting about a decade centered at ~1845, ~1935, and ~1965 are associated with reduced summer Sr/Ca-SST (monthly maxima < 29°C), and imply a reduction in the spatial extent of the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP). There is significant coherence between the composite DTNP Sr/Ca-SST record and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index, with the AMO lagging Sr/Ca-SST at DTNP by 9 years. Low frequency variability in the Gulf Stream surface transport, which originates near DTNP, may provide a link for the lagged relationship between multidecadal variability at DTNP and the AMO.</span></p>
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10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.10.022
en
Elsevier
Multi-species coral Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using <i>Orbicella faveolata</i> and <i>Siderastrea siderea</i> from the Florida Straits
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