Abstract
Variations in central and eastern equatorial sea surface temperatures are linked to extratropical climate changes by atmospheric heat and moisture fluxes in so-called ‘teleconnection’ patterns1,2. Estimates of sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly may be derived from the isotopic composition and minor-element chemistry of aragonite formed by annually banded reef corals. Here we reconstruct anomalies in central equatorial Pacific SSTs for 1938-93 from the stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) composition of a coral collected at Kiritimati (Christmas) Island, Republic of Kiribati (157.3° W, 2° N). We recover not only the regional anomaly in SST, but also extratropical climate information in climatically teleconnected regions.
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Evans, M., Fairbanks, R. & Rubenstone, J. A proxy index of ENSO teleconnections. Nature 394, 732–733 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/29424
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/29424
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