El Niño during the Last Interglacial Period recorded by a fossil coral from Indonesia

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 26; no. 20; pp. 3129 - 3132
• Main Authors: Hughen, Konrad A., Schrag, Daniel P., Jacobsen, Stein B., Hantoro, Wahyoe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Blackwell Publishing Ltd 15.10.1999; American Geophysical Union
• Subjects: Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Isotope geochemistry; Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology; Marine; Marine and continental quaternary; Surficial geology; Far East; Celebes; Indonesia; ISEW, Indonesia, Sulawesi; O-18; upper Quaternary; paleoclimate; interglacial periods; chemical ratios; climate modification; El Nino; dating; Cenozoic; oscillations; stable isotopes; calcium; corals; atmospheric precipitation; Quaternary; paleotemperature; strontium; surface water; Asia; global change; Invertebrata; Phanerozoic; invertebrates; Th/U; Pleistocene
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/1999GL006062

Measurements of oxygen isotopes and elemental ratios in a fossil coral that grew 124,000 years ago in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, reflect interannual variability in precipitation and sea surface temperature (SST) due to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This indicates that ENSO was robust during the last interglacial period, a time when global climate was slightly warmer than the present. The pattern of ENSO frequency behavior in the past is similar to variability in modern instrumental records, but distinct from the most recent period since the mid‐1970s, supporting the hypothesis that ENSO behavior in recent decades is anomalous with respect to natural variability.