Abstract
Annual average oxygen isotope (δ18O) time series from five coral
cores collected from Fiji and Tonga are used to construct a
Fiji-Tonga Interdecadal-Decadal Pacific Oscillation (F-TIDPO)
index of low frequency (>9yr and <55yr) climate variability
in this area back to 1650 A.D. Presently, both Fiji and Tonga are
located in the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) salinity
front region where the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO)
variation is most pronounced. We first demonstrate the consistency
between this F-T IDPO index and a MSL pressure-based SPCZ Position
Index (SPI) (1891-2000), thus verifying the ability of coral δ18O
to record past interdecadal-decadal climatic variations in this
region back to 1891. The F-T IDPO index is then shown to be
synchronous with the IPO index (1856-2000), suggesting that this
coral-based index effectively represents the interdecadal-decadal
scale climate variance back to 1650. The consistently anti-phase
spectrums of the F-T five-coral composite and the
interdecadal-decadal components in equatorial Pacific coral δ18O
series from Maiana [Urban et al., 2000] and Palmyra [Cobb et al.,
2001] suggest that the simultaneous eastern expansion (western
contraction) of the eastern salinity front of Western Pacific Warm
Pool (WPWP) occurs at the same time as the northeast (southwest)
movement of the SPCZ during a positive IPO (negative IPO) phase.
Zhang, Peipei, 2007. Interdecadal-Decadal Climate Variability
from Multi-Coral Oxygen Isotope Records in the South Pacific
Convergence Zone Region Since 1650 AD.
Unpublished MSc. thesis, State University of New York at Albany.
54 pp., +iii
University at Albany Science Library call number: SCIENCE
Oversize (*) QC 869 Z899 2007 Z53
MS thesis digital text pdf - 2.1MB pdf file
Return to MS Theses completed in the
Geological Sciences Program, University at Albany