Science, Vol.283, No.5399, 202-204, 1999
Coral record of equatorial sea-surface temperatures during the penultimate deglaciation at Huon Peninsula
Uplifted coral terraces at Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, preserve a record of sea level, sea-surface temperature, and salinity from the penultimate deglaciation. Remnants have been found of a shallow-water reef that formed during a pause, similar to the Younger Dryas, in the penultimate deglaciation at 130,000 +/- 2000 years ago, when sea Level was 60 to 80 meters lower than it is today. Porites coral, which grew during this period, has oxygen isotopic values and strontium/calcium ratios that indicate that sea-surface temperatures were much cooler (22 degrees +/- 2 degrees C) than either Last Interglacial or present-day tropical temperatures (29 degrees +/- 1 degrees C). These observations provide further evidence for a major cooling of the equatorial western Pacific followed by an extremely rapid rise in sea level during the Latter stages of Termination II.
Keywords:LAST INTERGLACIAL PERIOD;GREAT-BARRIER-REEF;PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA;MASS-SPECTROMETRY;SOUTHERN-OSCILLATION;WESTERN-AUSTRALIA;LEVEL CHANGES;OCEAN;CLIMATE;PACIFIC