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High-resolution windows into Holocene climate using proxy data from Belize corals (Central America)

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Abstract

Eleven fossil (Holocene) Montastraea coral samples from Belize barrier and atoll reef cores were analyzed geochemically. δ18O in fossil Montastraea cores suggest warmer and/or wetter conditions in the early–mid-Holocene and the modern age as compared to the mid–late-Holocene, ca. 5000–1,000 years before present (BP). Both δ18O and δ13C data in fossil coral cores exhibit the highest amplitudes from ca. 7,000–4,000 years BP, and indicate a higher climate variability in the early–mid-Holocene. Due to the maximum length of 20 years of individual samples, spectral analyses of fossil time series are beyond the methodological scope of this study. Oxygen and carbon isotope (δ18O and δ13C) time series from two modern (AD 1895–2005) Montastraea corals collected offshore of Belize are used for comparison. The δ18O and δ13C from these time series may be used as proxies for sea surface temperature (SST), precipitation, cloud cover, and the impact of anthropogenic production of CO2, respectively. δ18O variation indicates an increase in SST over the 20th century in the study area.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to H. Hudson (Miami) and numerous field assistants who helped during the past several years taking the cores that were used for this study. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Gi 222/2, 5, 6) funded a large part and Chevron Overseas Petroleum Inc. some parts of the fieldwork. We thank A. Saied (Miami) and M. Segl (Bremen) for making the isotopes measurements. R. Petschick (Frankfurt) ran the X-ray diffraction analyses. We thank J. Habersetzer (Frankfurt) for making the coral radiographs. E. Gottwald (Frankfurt) prepared the thin-sections. Two anonymous reviewers provided constructive suggestions that improved the manuscript.

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  1. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Eberhard Gischler & David Storz

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  1. Eberhard Gischler
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  2. David Storz
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Correspondence to Eberhard Gischler.

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Gischler, E., Storz, D. High-resolution windows into Holocene climate using proxy data from Belize corals (Central America). Palaeobio Palaeoenv 89, 211–221 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-009-0011-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-009-0011-7

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