Combining geochemical proxies in Porites coral cores from Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia

Chuuk Lagoon (7°N, 152°E), part of the Federated States of Micronesia, is centrally located in the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) and provides an ideal location for studies of El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Warm Pool processes. The WPWP is a key aspect of the global climate, exchanging heat and carbon with the atmosphere as well as with the surrounding ocean and the underlying water masses. Recent work has indicated long-term changes in the WPWP, including freshening and warming, that have been attributed to climate change. This region also experiences large fluctuations in precipitation and temperature due to interannual oscillations in ENSO. Oxygen isotope (δ18O) data from corals provides insight into the isotopic ratio of the water in which the corals grew their aragonitic skeletons. However, the oxygen isotope ratio of seawater varies with both changes in temperature and salinity. Sr/Ca ratios vary with seawater temperature and, when combined with δ18O, can be used to interpret both temperature and salinity variations. Three coral cores from large Porites lobata coral heads were collected from Chuuk Lagoon in June 2011, and one additional core was collected in 2008. Two cores (one in 2008 and another in 2011) were collected near the main island within the lagoon where they are subject to large precipitation and temperature variability due to fluctuations in ENSO. The remaining two cores were collected at the outer edge of the atoll, just inside of the barrier reef. These cores were collected in less than 3 m of water and were constantly being flushed with water from the open ocean warm pool. Seasonal variability in temperature and salinity are expected to be very low at this site. Stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C) and trace element (Sr/Ca) analyses for the upper portion of these cores will be presented and compared to ENSO variability and observed trends in the WPWP. An adjacent lagoon coral is valuable in developing the lagoon history, while the open-ocean sensing coral may reveal the lagoonal offset from open-ocean conditions. Using the combination of stable isotope analyses and Sr/Ca measurements of the coral skeletal material, corals greatly contribute to a longer ocean observation record than is available through just the modern instrumental record.