On the relationship between coral δ 13 C and Caribbean climate

• Published in: International Journal of Climatology
• Main Authors: Winter, Amos, Jury, Mark, Sammarco, Paul W., Zanchettin, Davide
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2018
• Subjects: Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.5772; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjoc.5772; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.5772

A coral ( Orbicella faveolata ) δ 13 C isotope ratio record off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico is used to indicate regional ocean–atmosphere conditions over the 20th century. The coral δ 13 C record is correlated positively with North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) and local evaporation. Spatial correlation maps show a broad area of influence by SST, sea‐level pressure and evaporation to the northeast of Puerto Rico. The composite maps reflect a strengthening of the North Atlantic anticyclone and east Pacific counter‐currents during years of enhanced coral growth. The coral δ 13 C record presented here corresponds with a local cloud cover increase of ~10% in parallel with a 0.5 °C rise of local SST since 1900. Environmental conditions tend to lead coral growth in a knock‐on effect as seen in local SST, cloud cover and evaporation data. The coral community may thus be a sentinel of both multi‐year fluctuations and centennial trends in Central Caribbean climate.