Abstract
Darwin1 was first to draw attention to the unique set of climatic data offered by coral reefs that are preserved on tectonically-active coasts. Geologists have since endeavoured to apply a variety of stratigraphic and radiometric dating techniques2–4 during their palaeoclimatic investigations of Quaternary coral reefs but the utilization of stable oxygen isotope ratios, so ubiquitous in deep-sea core studies, has not been fully exploited5,6. I report here the results of an oxygen isotope abundance study of the giant clam Tridacna gigas from a sequence of uplifted coral reefs in New Guinea which provides a detailed record of changes over the past 105 yr in the surface ocean isotope chemistry and temperature. The combined utilization of sea level and 18O/16O data allows a quantitative evaluation of ice volume and temperature factors. The results also contribute to resolving the question as to the exact time-relationship between temperature change at low latitudes and ice accumulation at the latitudes of the glacial ice caps.
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