Traces of the 1997 Indonesian Wildfires in the Marine Environment From a Network of Coral δ13C Records

Abstract

AbstractGreat efforts have been made to understand the impacts of the 1997 Indonesian wildfires on land ecology and human health, yet its influences on marine environments are poorly understood owing to sparse observations. Here we present weekly to monthly resolution coral δ13C records across the South China Sea in conjunction with a regional ocean general circulation model to study the effects of these cataclysmic wildfires on nearby oceans. Large and persistent negative δ13C excursions were found in corals from the interior South China Sea several months after the wildfires. This delay indicates that the 13C‐depleted ash fallout was distributed by ocean currents rather than direct atmospheric transport, which is supported by the results of our numerical model. Thus, the impacts of tropical wildfires on marine ecology may last for 1 year and extend thousands of kilometers from the burning center.