Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T03:35:48.844Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Variability of the Intertropical Convergence Zone recorded in coral isotopic records from the central indian Ocean (Chagos Archipelago)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Miriam Pfeiffer ,
Wolf-Christian Dullo  and
Anton Eisenhauer
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We have analyzed the stable oxygen isotopic composition of two Porites corals from the Chagos Archipelago, which is situated in the geographical center of the Indian Ocean. Coral δ18O at this site reliably records temporal variations in precipitation associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Precipitation maxima occur in boreal winter, when the ITCZ forms a narrow band across the Indian Ocean. The Chagos then lies within the center of the ITCZ, and rainfall is strongly depleted in δ18O. A 120-yr coral isotopic record indicates an alternation of wet and dry intervals lasting 15 to 20 yr. The most recent 2 decades are dominated by interannual variability, which is tightly coupled to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This is unprecedented in the 120 yr of coral record. As the ITCZ is governed by atmospheric dynamics, this provides evidence of a major change in the coupled ENSO–monsoon system.

Keywords

CoralsOxygen isotopesIndian OceanMonsoonEl Niño–Southern Oscillation
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , May 2004 , pp. 245 - 255
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Charles, C.D, Hunter, D.E, Fairbanks, R.G, (1997). Interaction between the ENSO and the Asian Monsoon in a coral record of tropical climate. Science. 277, 925–928.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, J.E, Fairbanks, R.G, (1990). The Southern Oscillation recorded in the δ18O of corals from Tarawa Atoll. Paleoceanography. 5, 669–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, J.E, Dunbar, R.B, McClanahan, T.R, Muthiga, N.A, (2000). Tropical Pacific forcing of decadal SST variability in the western Indian Ocean over the past two centuries. Science. 287, 617–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conkright, M, Levitus, S, O'Brien, T, Boyer, J, Stephens, C, (1998). World ocean atlas 1998 CD-ROM data set documentation. Tech. Rep.. vol. 15, NODC Internal Report, Silver Spring, MD., 16.Google Scholar
Dai, A, Wigley, T.M.L, (2000). Global patterns of ENSO-induced precipitation. Geophysical Research Letters. 27, 1283–1286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dansgaard, W, (1964). Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus. 16, 436–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delaygue, G, Jouzel, J, Dutay, J.-C, (2000). Oxygen 18-salinity relationship simulated by an oceanic general circulation model. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 178, 113–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dettinger, M.D., Ghil, M., Strong, C. M., Weibel, W., Yiou, P., (1995). Software expedites singular-spectrum analysis of noisy time series. Eos, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 76 (2), 12, 14, 21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Atomic Energy Agency(1994). Environmental isotope data No. 10: world survey of isotope concentration in precipitation (1988–1991). IAEA, Vienna., 214.Google Scholar
Juillet-Leclerc, A, Jouzel, J, Labeyrie, L, Joussaume, S, (1997). Modern and last glacial maximum sea surface δ18O derived from an atmospheric general circulation model. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 146, 591–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juillet-Leclerc, A, Schmidt, G, (2001). A calibration of the oxygen isotope paleothermometer of coral aragonite from Porites . Geophysical Research Letters. 28, 4135–4138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, A, Cane, M.A, Kushnir, Y, Clement, A, Blumenthal, M, Rajagopalan, B, (1998). Analysis of global sea surface temperature 1856–1992. Journal of Geophysical Research. 103, 18567–18589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumar, K.K, Rajagopalan, B, Cane, M.A, (1999). On the weakening relationship between the Indian Monsoon and ENSO. Science. 284, 2156–2159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindzen, R.S, Chou, M.-D, Hou, A.Y, (2001). Does the Earth have an adaptive infrared iris?. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 82, 417–432.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linsley, B.K, Dunbar, R.B, Wellington, G.M, Mucciarone, D.A, (1994). A coral-based reconstruction of Intertropical Convergence Zone variability over Central America since 1707. Journal of Geophysical Research. 99, 9977–9994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oberhuber, J.M, (1988). An atlas based on ‘COADS’ dataset: the budgets of heat, and turbulent kinetic energy at the surface of the global ocean. Max Planck Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg., 28.Google Scholar
Parker, D.E, Folland, C.K, Jackson, M, (1995). Marine surface temperature: observed variations and data requirements. Climate Change. 31, 559–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, T.M, Taylor, F.W, Crowley, T.J, Link, S.M, (1996). Evaluation of sampling resolution in coral stable isotope records: a case study using records from New Caledonia and Tarawa. Paleoceanography. 11, 529–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, T.M, Crowley, T.J, Taylor, F.W, Henin, C, Joannot, P, Join, Y, (1998). A multicentury stable isotope record from a New Caledonia coral: interannual and decadal sea surface temperature variability in the southwest Pacific since 1657 A.D. Paleoceanography. 13, 412–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, W.H, Neal, V.T, (1992). The historical record of El Niño events. Bradley, R.S, Jones, P.D, Climate since A.D. 1500. Routledge, London., 679.Google Scholar
Ramanathan, V, Collins, W, (1991). Thermodynamic regulation of ocean warming by cirrus clouds deduced from observations of the 1987 El Niño. Nature. 351, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R.W, Smith, T.M, (1994). Improved global sea surface temperature analysis using optimum interpolation. Journal of Climate. 7, 929–948.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheppard, C.R.C, (1999). Changes in some weather patterns in Chagos over twenty-five years. Sheppard, C.R.C, Seaward, M.R.D, Ecology of the Chagos Archipelago. Linnean Society Occasional Publications. vol. 2, Westbury Academic Sci, Otley, UK.Google Scholar
Stoddart, D.R, (1971). Rainfall on Indian Ocean coral islands. Atoll Research 1–21.Google Scholar
Torrence, C, Compo, G.P, (1998). A practical guide to wavelet analysis. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 79, 61–78.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torrence, C, Webster, P.J, (1999). Interdecadal changes in the ENSO–monsoon system. Journal of Climate. 12, 2679–2690.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trenberth, K.E, Hoar, T.J, (1996). The 1990–1995 El Niño–Southern Oscillation event: longest on record. Geophysical Research Letters. 23, 57–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tudhope, A.W, Shimmield, C.P, Chilcott, C.P, Jebb, M, Fallick, A.E, Dalgleish, A.N, (1995). Recent changes in the far western equatorial Pacific and their relationship to the Southern Oscillation; oxygen isotope records from massive corals, Papua New Guinea. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 136, 575–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, B, An, S.-I, (2001). Why the properties of El Niño changed during the late 1970s. Geophysical Research Letters. 28, 3709–3712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, P.J, Magaña, V.O, Palmer, T.N, Shukla, J, Tomas, R.A, Yanai, M, Yasunari, T, (1998). Monsoons: processes, predictability, and the prospects for prediction. Journal of Geophysical Research. 103, 14451–14510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodruff, R.L, Slutz, R.J, Jenne, R.L, Steurer, P.M, (1987). A comprehensive ocean–atmosphere data set. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 68, 1239–1250.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xie, P, Arkin, P, (1996). Analyses of global monthly precipitation using gauge observations, satellite estimates, and numerical model predictions. Journal of Climate. 9, 840–885.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar