Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Seychelles coral record of changes in sea surface temperature bimodality in the western Indian Ocean from the Mid-Holocene to the present

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Zinke, Jens
    Pfeiffer, M.
    Park, W.
    Schneider, B.
    Reuning, L.
    Dullo, W.
    Camoin, G.
    Mangini, A.
    Schroeder-Ritzrau, A.
    Garbe-Schönberg, D.
    Davies, G.
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Zinke, J. and Pfeiffer, M. and Park, W. and Schneider, B. and Reuning, L. and Dullo, W. and Camoin, G. et al. 2014. Seychelles coral record of changes in sea surface temperature bimodality in the western Indian Ocean from the Mid-Holocene to the present. Climate Dynamics. 43 (3-4): pp. 689-708.
    Source Title
    Climate Dynamics
    DOI
    10.1007/s00382-014-2082-z
    ISSN
    0930-7575
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/41170
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    We report fossil coral records from the Seychelles comprising individual time slices of 14-20 sclerochronological years between 2 and 6.2 kyr BP to reconstruct changes in the seasonal cycle of western Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) compared to the present (1990-2003). These reconstructions allowed us to link changes in the SST bimodality to orbital changes, which were causing a reorganization of the seasonal insolation pattern. Our results reveal the lowest seasonal SST range in the Mid-Holocene (6.2-5.2 kyr BP) and around 2 kyr BP, while the highest range is observed around 4.6 kyr BP and between 1990 and 2003. The season of maximum temperature shifts from austral spring (September to November) to austral autumn (March to May), following changes in seasonal insolation over the past 6 kyr. However, the changes in SST bimodality do not linearly follow the insolation seasonality. For example, the 5.2 and 6.2 kyr BP corals show only subtle SST differences in austral spring and autumn. We use paleoclimate simulations of a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model to compare with proxy data for the Mid-Holocene around 6 kyr BP. The model results show that in the Mid-Holocene the austral winter and spring seasons in the western Indian Ocean were warmer while austral summer was cooler. This is qualitatively consistent with the coral data from 6.2 to 5.2 kyr BP, which shows a similar reduction in the seasonal amplitude compared to the present day. However, the pattern of the seasonal SST cycle in the model appears to follow the changes in insolation more directly than indicated by the corals. Our results highlight the importance of ocean-atmosphere interactions for Indian Ocean SST seasonality throughout the Holocene. In order to understand Holocene climate variability in the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean, we need a much more comprehensive analysis of seasonally resolved archives from the tropical Indian Ocean. Insolation data alone only provides an incomplete picture. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Development and demise of a fringing coral reef during Holocene environmental change, eastern Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia
      Twiggs, Emily; Collins, Lindsay (2010)
      Reefs lining the western Exmouth Gulf, located at the northern limit of the 300 km long Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, represent modern incipient coral reefs and veneers of non-reef-building coral/algal communities ...
    • Molecular records of climate variability and vegetation response since the Late Pleistocene in the Lake Victoria basin, East Africa
      Berke, M.; Johnson, T.; Werne, Josef; Grice, Kliti; Schouten, S.; Damste, J. (2012)
      New molecular proxies of temperature and hydrology are helping to constrain tropical climate change and elucidate possible forcing mechanisms during the Holocene. Here, we examine a ∼14,000 year record of climate variability ...
    • Isotopic and elemental tracers in ice and snow as indicators of source regions of aerosols and changing environmental conditions
      Burn, Laurie (2009)
      Pioneering studies of lead (Pb) concentrations in polar ice by Clair C. Patterson and co-workers (e.g. Murozumi et al., 1969; Boutron and Patterson, 1983, 1986) revealed important information on climatic changes dating ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.