Climate Records from Corals in the Central and Western Sectors of the Tropical South Pacific

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AbstractATM-9818005Wellington, Gerald M.University of HoustonTitle: Climate Record from Corals in the Central and Western Sectors of the Tropical South PacificThe tropical South Pacific region has only been sparsely sampled for annually resolved paleoclimatic records of the last several centuries. Historical records of climate in this region are also relatively sparse. This region is however dramatically effected by the interannual El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system, and possibly by decadal-scale ocean-atmosphere variability. This award supports the analysis of multicentury coral cores from Fiji and Rarotonga in the western and central sectors of the South Pacific. Both sites are positioned near the southern edge of the Pacific warm pool within the westward flowing South Equatorial Current, and in the region of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ). This project will isotopically analyze the upper 150 years of coral record from both sites to examine ENSO-band and decadal variability in these South Pacific gyre locations.