Identification

Title

Contrasting central equatorial Pacific oxygen isotopic signatures of the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 El Niño events

Abstract

Paleoclimate reconstructions of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) behavior often rely on oxygen isotopic records from tropical corals (delta 18O). However, few reef-based observations of physical conditions during El Nino events exist, limiting our ability to interpret coral delta 18O. Here we present physical and geochemical measurements from Palmyra Atoll (5.9 degrees N, 162.1 degrees W) from 2014-2017, along with a data assimilation product using the isotope-enabled Regional Ocean Modeling System (isoROMS). Coral delta 18O signals are comparably strong in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016; notably, over 50% of the signal is driven by seawater delta 18O, not temperature. If a constant seawater delta 18O:salinity relationship were present, this would imply a comparable salinity anomaly during both events. However, salinity changes are much larger during 2014-2015, indicating a highly nonstationary relationship. isoROMS then shows that advection strongly influences delta 18O during both the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 El Nino, driving differences in the salinity/seawater delta 18O relationship. This demonstrates the need for considering ocean dynamics when interpreting coral delta 18O.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7mg7pcd

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2023-11-16T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact