South Pagai Islands and Sunda Strait 53 Year Coral Oxygen Isotope Data Abram, N.J.; Dixon, B.; Rosevear, M.; Plunkett, B.; Gagan, M.K.; Hantoro, W.S.; Phipps, S.J. Abram, N.J. Dixon, B. Rosevear, M. Plunkett, B. Gagan, M.K. Hantoro, W.S. Phipps, S.J. earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,corals and sclerosponges,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (delta 18O,Porites sp.,null,per mil VPDB,null,corals and sclerosponges,interpolated,isotope ratio mass spectrometry,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/corals and sclerosponges (Taitaitanopo Island>LATITUDE -3.18333>LONGITUDE 100.51666) (Batu Hitam Beach>LATITUDE -6.53333>LONGITUDE 105.63333) The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD; or Indian Ocean Zonal Mode) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere climate oscillation that has profound impacts on rainfall distribution across the Indian Ocean region. Instrumental records provide a reliable representation of IOD behaviour since 1958, while coral reconstructions currently extend the IOD history back to 1846. Large fluctuations in the number and intensity of positive IOD events over time are evident in these records, but it is unclear to what extent this represents multidecadal modulation of the IOD or an anthropogenically-forced change in IOD behaviour. In this study we explore the suitability of coral records from single-site locations in the equatorial Indian Ocean for capturing information about the occurrence and magnitude of positive IOD (pIOD) events. We find that the optimum location for coral reconstructions of the IOD occurs in the southeastern equatorial Indian Ocean, along the coast of Java and Sumatra between ~3-7S. Here the strong ocean cooling and atmospheric drying during pIOD events are unambiguously recorded in coral oxygen isotope records, which capture up to 50% of IOD variance. Unforced experiments with coupled climate models suggest that potential biases in coral estimates of pIOD frequency are skewed towards overestimating pIOD recurrence intervals, and become larger with shorter reconstruction windows and longer pIOD recurrence times. Model output also supports the assumption of stationarity in sea surface temperature relationships in the optimum IOD location that is necessary for paleoclimate reconstructions. This study provides a targeted framework for the future generation of paleoclimate records, including optimised coral reconstructions of past IOD variability. STUDY NOTES: Coral d18O data at monthly resolution South Pagai Islands and Sunda Strait, Indonesia NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Abram, N.J. Investigator : Dixon, B. Investigator : Rosevear, M. Investigator : Plunkett, B. Investigator : Gagan, M.K. Investigator : Hantoro, W.S. Investigator : Phipps, S.J. 2015-06-19 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/18895 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/taitaitanopo2015.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/batu-hitam2015.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/taitaitanopo2015.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/batu-hitam2015.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/18895 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/taitaitanopo2015.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/coral/indian_ocean/batu-hitam2015.txt Nerilie J. Abram, Bronwyn C. Dixon, Madelaine G. Rosevear, Benjamin Plunkett, Michael K. Gagan, Wahyoe S. Hantoro and Steven J. Phipps2015Optimised coral reconstructions of the Indian Ocean Dipole: An assessment of location and length considerationsPaleoceanography10.1002/2015PA002810http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015PA002810/abstract START YEAR: 1959 AD * END YEAR: 2012 AD 100.51666 -6.53333 105.63333 -3.18333