Hydroclimate
over the Common Era
from Sr/Ca and d18O records
of corals
Thomas Felis
PAGES 2k – PMIP3 Workshop
Comparing data and model estimates of hydroclimate variability
and change over the Common Era
June 1-3, 2016
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Tarawa coral d18O – ENSO rainfall proxy
Cole et al., 1993, Science
Tarawa coral d18O
SST field reconstruction from coral d18O
Evans et al., 2002,
Paleoceanography
11 coral records
D‘Arrigo et al., 2009, Nature Geoscience
Volcanic forcing & tropical temperatures
SST variability over past the millennium
Emile-Geay et al., 2013, Journal of Climate
Tropical SST for the past four centuries
Tierney et al., 2015, Paleoceanogr.PAGES Ocean2k
Hydroclimate signals in coral records
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Coral-geoduck index Winter PDO index
Correlation with land precipitation
November-February (1902-1994)3-year running averages
CRU TS 2.1: Mitchell & Jones (2005)CRU TS 2.1: Mitchell & Jones (2005)
Felis et al., 2010, Geophys. Res. Lett.
Shallow-water coral archives
skeleton of aragonite (CaCO3)
growth rate: ~1 cm/year
annual density band pairs
incorporate isotopic and elemental tracers
live for several centuries
Fig
ure
cre
dit: T
hom
as F
elis
, M
AR
UM
Coral archives – Chronology
-1980
-1990
-2000
October 2002I
5 cm
-1970
-1960
-1950
-1940
-1930
-1920
-1910
-1900
-1890
-1872core length: 174 cm
growth rate: 1.2 cm/year
high density bands: summer
low density bands: winter
-1880
-1872
-1880
-1890
-1900
-1910
-1920
-1930
-1940
-1950
-1960
-1970
-1980
-1990
-2000
Oct 2002
High density bands: summer
Low density bands: winter
5 cm
Felis et al., 2009, Geology
Coral archives – ChronologyC
o r a
l S u
r f a c
e
HighDensity
Band
LowDensity
Band
Direction of Coral Growth
199519941993199219911990
Y e a r s29 N
ovem
ber 1
995
Coral d18O
Coral d13C
5°C
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Distance from Top of Coral (cm)
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
(‰ P
DB
)
Fig
ure
cre
dit: T
hom
as F
elis
, M
AR
UM
Coral archives – Proxies
Coral Sr/Ca
• Temperature
Coral d18O
• Temperature
• Seawater d18O
(related to salinity)
Coral
growth rate
• Temperature
• Nutrients
• Food
• Light
• …
Fig
ure
cre
dit: T
hom
as F
elis
, M
AR
UM
Coral archives – Proxies
Coral Sr/Ca
• Temperature
Coral d18O
• Temperature
• Seawater d18O
(related to salinity)
Fig
ure
cre
dit: T
hom
as F
elis
, M
AR
UM
Coral archives – Proxies
Coral Sr/Ca
• Temperature
Coral d18O
• Temperature
• Seawater d18O > Hydrologic balance
> Oceanic processes
Fig
ure
cre
dit: T
hom
as F
elis
, M
AR
UM
Great Barrier Reef coral Sr/Ca, U/Ca, d18O
He
nd
ye
t a
l.,
20
02
, S
cie
nce
Coral d18O
Coral Sr/Ca
Coral U/Ca
North Pacific coral Sr/Ca, U/Ca, d18O
Fe
lise
t a
l., 2
00
9,
Ge
olo
gy
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
-3.6
-4.0
-4.4
-4.8
-5.2
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
VP
DB
)
9.4
9.2
9.0
8.8
Co
ral S
r/C
a (
mm
ol/m
ol)
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
Co
ral U
/Ca
(
mo
l/m
ol)Coral d18O
Coral Sr/Ca
Coral U/Ca
N. Pacific coral Sr/Ca, d18O, d18Oseawater
Fe
lise
t a
l., 2
00
9,
Ge
olo
gy
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
-4.0
-4.2
-4.4
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
VP
DB
)
9.3
9.2
9.1
9.0
Cora
l S
r/C
a (
mm
ol/m
ol)
1.35
1.30
1.25
1.20
1.15
Co
ral U
/Ca
(
mol/m
ol)
1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
Year
23.5
24.0
SS
T (
°C)
0.4
0.2
0.0
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
1.0
0.5
0.0
Co
ral S
SS
ano
ma
ly (
psu
)
34.85
34.80
SO
DA
SS
S (
psu)
Coral d18O
Coral Sr/Ca
Coral U/CaSST
1905-1910
SSS
Coral d18O (Sr/Ca)
Coral d18O (U/Ca)More saline
Less saline
Coral d18O
Coral U/Ca
Coral Sr/Ca
Coral d18Oseawater
Cent. Pacific coral Sr/Ca, d18O, d18Oseawater
Co
bb
et
al.,
20
01
, G
eo
ph
ys. R
es. L
ett.
Nu
rha
tiet
al., 20
11, J. C
lim.
Coral d18O
Coral Sr/Ca
Coral d18Oseawater
Coral records (PAGES Ocean2k)
Tierney et al., 2015, Paleoceanogr.
39 coral records
Coral records (PAGES Ocean2k)
seasonal to monthly resolution
annual resolution
Tierney et al., 2015, Paleoceanogr.
10 paired Sr/Ca and d18O records
Coral records
seasonal to monthly resolution ( unpublished)
annual resolution
12 paired Sr/Ca and d18O records (+1 unpublished)
Coral records
seasonal to monthly resolution ( unpublished)
1881
1751 1873
18741886
17261657
1867
1895
9 paired Sr/Ca and d18O records (1 unpublished)
North Pacific coral seawater d18O
180oW 120oW 60oW 0 o 60oE 120oE 180oW 60oS
30oS
0o
30oN
60oN
OGA δ18
O SW Annual − PP Annual
co
rrela
tio
n c
oeff
icie
nt
−0.4
−0.3
−0.2
−0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
correlation with precipitation(CRU TS3.22)
Harris et al., 2014, Int. J. Climatol.
Ogasawara coral record - Felis et al., 2009, Geology
1901-1992
North Pacific coral seawater d18O
correlation with SPEI(Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index)
Vicente-Serrano et al., 2010, J. Clim.
180oW 120oW 60oW 0 o 60oE 120oE 180oW 60
oS
30oS
0 o
30oN
60oN
OGA δ18O SW Annual − SPEI1 Annual
co
rrela
tio
n c
oeffic
ien
t
−0.4
−0.3
−0.2
−0.1
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
Ogasawara coral record - Felis et al., 2009, Geology
1901-1992
Coral seawater d18O reconstructions
Felis et al.,
2009
Hetzinger et al.,
2010
Cobb et al.,
2001
Nurhati et al.,
2011
Zinke et al.,
2008
1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Year
0.40.30.20.1
0-0.1-0.2
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
0.80.70.60.50.40.30.2
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
0.50.40.30.20.10-0.1
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
10.90.80.70.60.50.4
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
Western North Pacific(27°N)
Western tropical Atlantic(16°N)
Central tropical Pacific(6°N)
Western Indian Ocean(13°S)
saline
fresh
Central Pacific coral Sr/Ca, d18O, SSTT
iern
ey
et
al.,
20
15
, P
ale
oce
an
og
r.
PA
GE
S O
ce
an
2k
Co
bb
et
al.,
20
01
, G
eo
ph
ys. R
es. L
ett.
Nu
rha
tie
t a
l.,
20
11
, J. C
lim.
Central Pacific coral d18O, SST, salinity
Tie
rne
ye
t a
l.,
20
15
, P
ale
oce
an
og
r.
PA
GE
S O
ce
an
2k
Co
bb
et
al.,
20
01
, G
eo
ph
ys. R
es. L
ett.
Nu
rha
tie
t a
l.,
20
11
, J. C
lim.
Coral seawater d18O reconstructions
Hendy et al.,
2002
Linsley et al.,
2000
Ren et al.,
2002
Quinn et al.,
1998
DeLong et al.,
2012
1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Year
0.40.30.20.1
0-0.1-0.2
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
0.30.20.10-0.1-0.2-0.3
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
0.30.20.10-0.1-0.2-0.3
Co
ral d
18O
(‰
)
Western tropical S. Pacific(18°S)
Central tropicalS. Pacific (21°S)
Western tropicalS. Pacific (22°S)
saline
fresh
Hydroclimate from coral Sr/Ca - d18O
• Coral d18O:
• temperature AND seawater d18O
• Coral Sr/Ca:
• temperature
• Paired coral Sr/Ca and d18O:
• seawater d18O (calculated)
• Seasonally resolved records:
• better chronology
• ~13 paired coral Sr/Ca and d18O records available
• many back to the 1880s to 1870s
• some back to the 18th and 17th century
Cook et al., 2015, Sci. Adv.NADA: North American Drought Atlas
OWDA: Old World Drought Atlas
MADA: Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas
Last millennium hydroclimate - tree rings
Last millennium hydroclimate - multiproxy
Lju
ng
qvis
te
t a
l., 2
01
6,
Na
ture
seasonal to monthly resolution ( unpublished)
annual resolution
~13 coral seawater d18O reconstructions
1881
1751 1873
18741886
17261657
1867
1895
1850
1782
1751
1781