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Seasonal characteristics of the Indian Ocean Dipole during the Holocene epoch

Nature volume 445, pages 299–302 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The Indian Ocean Dipole1,2 (IOD)—an oscillatory mode of coupled ocean–atmosphere variability—causes climatic extremes and socio-economic hardship throughout the tropical Indian Ocean region1,2,3,4,5. There is much debate about how the IOD interacts with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Asian monsoon, and recent changes in the historic ENSO–monsoon relationship6 raise the possibility that the properties of the IOD may also be evolving. Improving our understanding of IOD events and their climatic impacts thus requires the development of records defining IOD activity in different climatic settings, including prehistoric times when ENSO and the Asian monsoon behaved differently from the present day. Here we use coral geochemical records from the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean to reconstruct surface-ocean cooling and drought during individual IOD events over the past ∼6,500 years. We find that IOD events during the middle Holocene were characterized by a longer duration of strong surface ocean cooling, together with droughts that peaked later than those expected by El Niño forcing alone. Climate model simulations suggest that this enhanced cooling and drying was the result of strong cross-equatorial winds driven by the strengthened Asian monsoon of the middle Holocene. These IOD–monsoon connections imply that the socioeconomic impacts of projected future changes in Asian monsoon strength may extend throughout Australasia.

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Figure 1: IOD climate anomalies.
Figure 2: Monsoon–ENSO–IOD evolution during the Holocene.
Figure 3: Composite records of eastern IOD upwelling events.
Figure 4: Composite records of IOD drought.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Prayudi, I. Suprianto, K. Glenn, T. Watanabe, H. Scott-Gagan, K. Sieh and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for assistance with fieldwork, which was carried out under research permits issued by LIPI. We thank H. Scott-Gagan, J. Cali, G. Mortimer, A. Alimanovic and D. Kelleher for laboratory assistance, and R. Gallimore and P. Behling for the model simulations and model output processing. This study was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award and RSES Jaeger Scholarship to N.J.A., and an Australian Research Council Discovery grant to M.K.G. and W.S.H.

Author Contributions N.J.A. was responsible for coral geochemical analysis and interpretation of the records. M.K.G. was Chief Investigator and the Australian Institutional Counterpart for the ARC project. Z.L. provided climate model simulations and advice on ocean–atmosphere interactions. W.S.H. was Partner Investigator and the Indonesian Institutional Counterpart for the ARC project. M.T.M. supported the TIMS Sr/Ca analyses. B.W.S. provided extensive logistical support for fieldwork. N.J.A and M.K.G. wrote the paper, with comments provided by all other authors.

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Author notes

  1. Nerilie J. Abram

    Present address: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 0200, Australia

    Nerilie J. Abram, Michael K. Gagan & Malcolm T. McCulloch

  2. Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1225 W. Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    Zhengyu Liu

  3. Earth Environment Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Xi’an, 710075, China

    Zhengyu Liu

  4. The Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Zhengyu Liu

  5. Research and Development Center for Geotechnology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Bandung, 40135, Indonesia

    Wahyoe S. Hantoro & Bambang W. Suwargadi

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Correspondence to Nerilie J. Abram or Michael K. Gagan.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

This file contains Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Table S1 with details of coral samples used in this study, Supplementary Figures S1-S4 and Supplementary Plates S1-S7. Supplementary Figure S1 shows a comparison of SST and rainfall products for the Mentawai Islands. Supplementary Figure shows Coral Sr/Ca-SST calibration for the Mentawai Islands Supplementary Figure S3 shows Coral Sr/Ca-SST and Δ δ18O records of individual IOD events. Supplementary Figure S4 shows a comparison of the average annual cycle of coral Sr/Ca-SST and Δ δ18O during the middle Holocene and the late Holocene. Supplementary Plate S1 shows X-radiograph image of coral TM01-A-10. Supplementary Plate S2 shows X-radiograph image of coral TN99-A-4. Supplementary Plate S3 shows X-radiograph image of coral PG01-A-2, 2b. Supplementary Plate S4 shows X-radiograph image of coral P01-B-1. Supplementary Plate S5 shows X-radiograph image of coral TF99-A-5. Supplementary Plate S6 shows X-radiograph image of coral LB99-A-7. Supplementary Plate S7 shows X-radiograph image of coral TN99-A-1a (PDF 34990 kb)

Supplementary Table

This file contains Supplementary Table S2 which shows the coral Sr/Ca and δ18O data for individual and composite IOD events (XLS 100 kb)

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Abram, N., Gagan, M., Liu, Z. et al. Seasonal characteristics of the Indian Ocean Dipole during the Holocene epoch. Nature 445, 299–302 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05477

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