The history of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation and sea surface salinity during 1376–1500 CE reconstructed by Porites coral δ18O from Huangyan Island, South China Sea

Abstract

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most influential climatic phenomenon affecting global ecosystems, water use, and agriculture on an interannual scale. However, limited instrumental records make it difficult to fully understand the characteristics of ENSO events. In this study, we used both monthly-resolved Porites coral δ18O records, i.e., living Porites corals of δ18O–HYDL4 (1992–2015) and subfossil Porites corals of δ18O–HYD3 (1376–1500 CE), from Huangyan Island in the South China Sea (SCS), to reconstruct the moderate intensity ENSO and sea surface salinity (SSS) during 1376–1500 CE. The results show that the SSS was higher but the frequency of moderate-to-high intensity ENSO events was lower than the present during 1376–1500 CE. ENSO activity was generally similar to or slightly lower than that of today, but it included several very strong ENSO events in the first substage of 1376–1450 CE, while it was relatively quiet in the second substage of 1451–1500 CE. More moderate-intensity ENSO events may have occurred in the relatively warm climate. The variation in coral δ18O was dominated by multiple factors in this region. SST, ENSO and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) may be the dominant factors influencing the changes in coral δ18O at different timescales.