NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Ningaloo Reef - Stable Isotope Data

116-year record of coral skeletal δ18O is presented from a colony of Porites lutea from Ningaloo Reef, western Australia. Interannual variability of sea-surface temperatures (SST) inferred from skeletal δ18O is dominated by a 9.5-year period, and may constitute a characteristic signal of the Leeuwin Current. On long-terms coral skeletal δ18O indicates a near-continuous increase of SST at Ningaloo Reef over one century. The skeletal δ18O time series was checked for the presence of seasonal cooling events resulting from major volcanic eruptions. An ∼1 °C cooling is evident following the eruption of Pinatubo in 1991, which reproduces the results of previous investigations. However, only weak or no signals can be related to the eruptions of Krakatau (1883) and Agung (1963).