Great Barrier Reef coral luminescence reveals rainfall variability over northeastern Australia since the 17th century

• Published in: Paleoceanography 2011-06, Vol.26 (2), p.np-n/a
• Main Author: Lough, Janice M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia; Barrier reefs; coral luminescence; Coral reefs; El Nino; ENSO; Global climate; Luminescence; Ocean currents; Oceanography; Porites; Rainfall; reconstruction; River flow; Southern Oscillation; tropical rainfall; Variability
• ISSN: 0883-8305; 2572-4517; 1944-9186; 2572-4525
• DOI: 10.1029/2010PA002050

Northeast tropical Queensland rainfall is concentrated in the summer half year and characterized by high interannual variability, partly related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. This results in highly variable river flows affecting nearshore coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Freshwater flood events are recorded in long‐lived, annually banded massive coral skeletons as luminescent lines. Quantitative measurements of luminescence intensity were made for 20 Porites coral cores from nearshore reef sites between 11°S and 23°S. Seventeen of the coral luminescence series were significantly correlated with an instrumental record of northeast Queensland summer rainfall and were used to develop seven significantly calibrated and verified rainfall reconstructions based on between 17 (starting 1891) and 1 (starting 1639) coral series. The longest reconstruction, based on more than one coral, provides insights into northeast Queensland rainfall variability from the late 17th century. Comparisons with various independent climate proxies are equivocal: the magnitude and significance of relationships with, for example, a proxy ENSO index vary through time. An extended drier period reconstructed from approximately the 1760s to the 1850s is associated with lower interannual rainfall variability. Since the late 19th century average rainfall and its variability have significantly increased, with wet and dry extremes becoming more frequent than in earlier centuries. This suggests that a warming global climate maybe associated with more variable tropical Queensland rainfall. Key Points Coral luminescence used to reconstruct tropical rainfall Drier and less variable rainfall late 18th to mid‐19th centuries Increase in rainfall variability and extremes since late 19th century