A 50-Year Sr/Ca time series from an enclosed, shallow-water guam coral: In situ monitoring and extraction of a temperature trend, annual cycle, and ENSO and PDO Signals

Abstract

Located on the northern edge of the West Pacific Warm Pool and having a developed economy and modern infrastructure, Guam is well positioned and equipped for obtaining natural records of the west Pacific maritime paleoclimate. This study was a proof of concept to explore whether useful climate proxy records might be obtained from coral at readily accessible, even if geochemically nonoptimal, coastal sites. A 50-year Sr/Ca record (1960-2010) was thus obtained from a shallow-water, near-shore Porites lutea colony at a recreational facility inside Guam's Apra Harbor and compared with local and regional meteorological records, including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) indices. The accessibility of the site enabled documentation of relevant environmental variables for 16 months (September 2009-December 2010): seawater λ18O, pH, seawater cations, and nitrate. Time series of seawater λ18O, pH, and cations show evidence of freshwater input from direct rainfall and stream discharge into the harbor. An anomalously higher mean and variable concentrations of Ba suggest the presence of river-borne, fine-grained terrigenous sediment. Nevertheless, the Sr/Ca time series reproduces a long-term warming trend seen in historical records of local air temperature and regional sea-surface temperature (SST) and closely tracks the ENSO and PDO indices over the entire 50-year record. The consistency of the results with Guam's historical instrumental records, previous coral λ18O results from Guam obtained by others, and previous Sr/Ca proxy results for SST in similar environments elsewhere demonstrate that accessible near-shore sites - where environmental conditions can be monitored - can produce useful Sr/Ca records of local and regional climate phenomena.