Abstract
APorites lutea core from Yongshu Reef of Nansha Islands covering 50 years growth history was analyzed for oxygen isotopic composition with monthly and seasonally resolution. The calibration of the δ18O with the instrumental temperature indicated that the coral δ18O is a good indicator for sea surface temperature (SST) and air temperature (t). It can be used to reconstruct the SST and air temperature of the Yongshu Reef sea area. In addition, the coral δ18O provides signatures for the intensity of the East Asia monsoon and it is a record for the activities of El Nino events. With the calibrated SST and air temperature formulas, the most recent fifty years SST and air temperature were reconstructed based on the coral δ18O, thus back up the understanding of the climate of Nansha Islands to 1950, far beyond the limit of the instrumental recording since September 1988. It was found that, in general, increasing 1°C air temperature results in 0.24%0 decrease in skeletal δ18O.
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Kefu, Y., Tegu, C., Dingcheng, H. et al. The high-resolution climate recorded in the δ18O ofPorites lutea from the Nansha Islands of China. Chin.Sci.Bull. 46, 2097–2102 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02901141
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02901141