Sea-surface temperature variability in the 16th century at Bermuda inferred from coral records

Abstract

Records of skeletal δ 18O in monthly and Sr/Ca ratios in half-yearly resolution were obtained from a Bermuda coral ( Diploria labyrinthiformis) for the time period 1520–1603 (±15 yr) AD within the Little Ice Age. Annual and decadal averages of both sea-surface temperature proxies indicate temperature variabilities of 0.5°C (standard deviation) and 0.3°C, respectively. Both numbers are close to recent instrumental observations. Approximately 30% of the interannual time series variance of δ 18O is concentrated in broad bands centered at periods of ∼30, 16, and 7.8 yr, the last two reflecting the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation. Although this large-scale climate signal is present in the record, there is no correlation with other contemporaneous northern hemisphere proxy data, resulting from spatial differences in climate variability.