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A coral skeleton geochemical record of surface water properties in the Oman upwelling region
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Montone, Livia Marie. A coral skeleton geochemical record of surface water properties in the Oman upwelling region. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3KP81XT

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TitleA coral skeleton geochemical record of surface water properties in the Oman upwelling region
NameMontone, Livia Marie (author); Sherrell, Robert M (chair); Rosenthal, Yair (internal member); Wright, James D (internal member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - New Brunswick
Date Created2010
Other Date2010-10 (degree)
SubjectOceanography, Upwelling (Oceanography)--Oman, Gulf of, Upwelling (Oceanography)--Arabian Sea, Water chemistry--Oman, Gulf of, Coral reef plants)--Oman, Gulf of
Extentx, 86 p. : ill.
DescriptionGeochemical records from scleractinian corals have the potential to reconstruct surface water temperature and salinity, expanding temporal and spatial coverage beyond that available from in situ and remotely sensed data and clarifying the ocean's role in climate change. Here, I present [Greek letter delta]18O and Sr/Ca records from a Porites coral near the shelf-break off southern Oman to evaluate the potential for reconstructing monsoon upwelling histories. This sample represents growth (19 mm y⁻¹) during August 1989 to April 1996. Both [Greek letter delta]18Ocoral (-3.7 to -5.0 0/00 [subscript PDB]) and Sr/Ca (9.0 to 9.6 mmol mol[superscript-1]) records anticorrelate strongly with weekly instrumental sea-surface temperature (SST) records from several sources (IGOSS, Pathfinder 5 (Pv5) AVHRR, and COADS). A systematic comparison shows that the Pv5 AVHRR quality 3 SST dataset is the most appropriate choice for calibrating the Sr/Ca proxy, largely because of its maximal temporal coverage of demonstrably accurate data. Using the optimal calculated SST-Sr/Ca calibration of -15.525 ([plus or equal to symbol] 1.83) °C mol mmol[superscript-1] and the assumed SST-[delta]¹⁸O calibration of -4.76 ([plus or equal to symbol]0.69) °C 0/00[subscript PDB⁻¹ [Ren et al., 2002] to reconstruct the isotopic composition of the ambient seawater ([delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw]), the mean annual [delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw] variation ranges were determined to be 0.5-0.9 0/00 [subscriptPDB]. The timing and relative magnitude of these variations were consistent with known hydrography (isotopically lighter during SW monsoon, scaling with SST minima) but were greater than anticipated from observed annual salinity changes of ~1.0 and the estimated [delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw]-salinity relationship for regional surface waters. Simulations of reconstructed [delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw] using minimum SST-Sr/Ca and maximum SST-[delta]¹⁸O calibration slopes from the literature showed that the resultant mean annual range of [delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw] (0.4 0/00 [subscriptPDB]) was closer to the expected magnitude. I conclude that: (1) Sr/Ca measurements provide a very good record of SST variations, particularly the interannual variation in the SW monsoon minimum, and (2) derived [delta]¹⁸O[subscript sw] records indicate salinity variations that may be accurate in timing and relative magnitude but are unrealistically large in absolute magnitude. This coral holds strong promise for reconstructing multi-decade absolute SST and relative salinity records associated with climate-related variations in the Arabian Sea upwelling system.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Livia Marie Montone
Genretheses, ETD graduate
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3KP81XT
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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