NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Kiritimati Island - Data

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’ patterns. 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.