Vanuatu fossil coral SST reconstruction for 4200 yr BP

We present a 47-year-long record of sea surface temperature (SST) derived from Sr/Ca and U/Ca analysis of a massive Porites coral which grew at ~4150 calendar years before present (B.P.) in Vanuatu (southwest tropical Pacific Ocean). Mean SST is similar in both the modern instrumental record and paleorecord, and both exhibit El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) frequency SST oscillations. However, several strong decadal-frequency cooling events and a marked modulation of the seasonal SST cycle, with power at both ENSO and decadal frequencies, are observed in the paleorecord, which are unprecedented in the modern record.

(Appendix 1) Coral analysis and isostatic rebound effects from different Holes of IODP Expedition 310

Past sea-level records provide invaluable information about the response of ice sheets to climate forcing. Some such records suggest that the last deglaciation was punctuated by a dramatic period of sea-level rise, of about 20 metres, in less than 500 years. Controversy about the amplitude and timing of this meltwater pulse (MWP-1A) has, however, led to uncertainty about the source of the melt water and its temporal and causal relationships with the abrupt climate changes of the deglaciation. Here we show that MWP-1A started no earlier than 14,650 years ago and ended before 14,310 years ago, making it coeval with the Bølling warming. Our results, based on corals drilled offshore from Tahiti during Integrated Ocean Drilling Project Expedition 310, reveal that the increase in sea level at Tahiti was between 12 and 22 metres, with a most probable value between 14 and 18 metres, establishing a significant meltwater contribution from the Southern Hemisphere. This implies that the rate of eustatic sea-level rise exceeded 40 millimetres per year during MWP-1A.

Radiocarbon age determinations of coral and reef cores from the Philippines off North Bohol and Olango

Nine holes were drilled with a submersible hydraulic drill into the slopes and reef flats of the Caubyan and Calituban reefs as well as of Olango Flat. The maximum depth of core penetration was 11 m. 14C ages showed that the Caubyan and Calituban reefs were formed within the last 6,000 years. Corals settled on a pre-existing relief parallel to the island of Bohol, building a framework for other carbonate-producing organisms. The reef flat south of Olango has a different structure. Formation took place during a Pleistocene high sea level, e.g. 125,000 years ago.