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1. The CoralHydro2K Database: a global, actively curated compilation of coral d18O and Sr/Ca proxy records of tropical ocean hydrology and temperature for the Common Era

   Walter, R. M. (January 2023, Earth system science data)

   The response of the hydrological cycle to anthropogenic climate change, especially across the tropical oceans, remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of long instrumental temperature and hydrological records. Massive shallow-water corals are ideally suited to reconstructing past oceanic variability as they are widely distributed across the tropics, rapidly deposit calcium carbonate skeletons that continuously record ambient environmental conditions, and can be sampled at monthly to annual resolution. Most coral-based reconstructions utilize stable oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) that tracks the combined change in sea surface temperature (SST) and the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater (δ18Osw), a measure of hydrologic variability. Increasingly, coral δ18O time series are paired with time series of strontium-to-calcium ratios (Sr / Ca), a proxy for SST, from the same coral to quantify temperature and δ18Osw variability through time. To increase the utility of such reconstructions, we present the CoralHydro2k database: a compilation of published, peer-reviewed coral Sr / Ca and δ18O records from the Common Era. The database contains 54 paired Sr / Ca-δ18O records and 125 unpaired Sr / Ca or δ18O records, with 88 % of these records providing data coverage from 1800 CE to present. A quality-controlled set of metadata with standardized vocabulary and units accompanies each record, informing the use of the database. The CoralHydro2k database tracks large-scale temperature and hydrological variability. As such, it is well-suited for investigations of past climate variability, comparisons with climate model simulations including isotope-enabled models – and application in paleo-data assimilation projects.The CoralHydro2k database will be available on the NOAA National Center for Environmental Information’s Paleoclimate data service with serializations in MATLAB, R, Python, and LiPD. 

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2. The Iso2k database: a global compilation of paleo-<i>δ</i>¹⁸O and <i>δ</i>²H records to aid understanding of Common Era climate

   https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2261-2020  

   Konecky, Bronwen L.; McKay, Nicholas P.; Churakova; Comas-Bru, Laia; Dassié, Emilie P.; DeLong, Kristine L.; Falster, Georgina M.; Fischer, Matt J.; Jones, Matthew D.; Jonkers, Lukas; et al (January 2020, Earth System Science Data)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract. Reconstructions of global hydroclimate during the Common Era (CE; the past ∼2000 years) are important for providing context for current and future global environmental change. Stable isotope ratios in water are quantitative indicators of hydroclimate on regional to global scales, and these signals are encoded in a wide range of natural geologic archives. Here we present the Iso2k database, a global compilation of previously published datasets from a variety of natural archives that record the stable oxygen (δ18O) or hydrogen (δ2H) isotopic compositions of environmental waters, which reflect hydroclimate changes over the CE. The Iso2k database contains 759 isotope records from the terrestrial and marine realms, including glacier and ground ice (210); speleothems (68); corals, sclerosponges, and mollusks (143); wood (81); lake sediments and other terrestrial sediments (e.g., loess) (158); and marine sediments (99). Individual datasets have temporal resolutions ranging from sub-annual to centennial and include chronological data where available. A fundamental feature of the database is its comprehensive metadata, which will assist both experts and nonexperts in the interpretation of each record and in data synthesis. Key metadata fields have standardized vocabularies to facilitate comparisons across diversearchives and with climate-model-simulated fields. This is the firstglobal-scale collection of water isotope proxy records from multiple typesof geological and biological archives. It is suitable for evaluatinghydroclimate processes through time and space using large-scale synthesis,model–data intercomparison and (paleo)data assimilation. The Iso2k databaseis available for download at https://doi.org/10.25921/57j8-vs18 (Konecky and McKay, 2020) and is also accessible via the NOAA/WDS Paleo Datalanding page: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/29593 (last access: 30 July 2020). 

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3. Synthetic and practical reconstructions of SST and seawater pH using the novel multiproxy SMITE method

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305607  

   Hughes, Hunter P; Thompson, Diane; Foster, Gavin L; Lees, Jonathan; Surge, Donna; Standish, Christopher D (June 2024, PLOS ONE)

   Pokkathappada, Abdul Azeez (Ed.)

   Geochemical proxies of sea surface temperature (SST) and seawater pH (pH_sw) in scleractinian coral skeletons are valuable tools for reconstructing tropical climate variability. However, most coral skeletal SST and pH_swproxies are univariate methods that are limited in their capacity to circumvent non-climate-related variability. Here we present a novel multivariate method for reconstructing SST and pH_swfrom the geochemistry of coral skeletons. Our Scleractinian Multivariate Isotope and Trace Element (SMITE) method optimizes reconstruction skill by leveraging the covariance across an array of coral elemental and isotopic data with SST and pH_sw. First, using a synthetic proxy experiment, we find that SMITE SST reconstruction statistics (correlation, accuracy, and precision) are insensitive to noise and variable calibration period lengths relative to Sr/Ca. While SMITE pH_swreconstruction statistics remain relative toδ¹¹B throughout the same synthetic experiment, the magnitude of the long-term trend in pH_swis progressively lost under conditions of moderate-to-high analytical uncertainty. Next, we apply the SMITE method to an array of seven coral-based geochemical variables (B/Ca,δ¹¹B, Li/Ca, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, U/Ca & Li/Mg) measured from two BermudanPorites astreoidescorals. Despite a <3.5 year calibration period, SMITE SST and pH_swestimates exhibit significantly better accuracy, precision, and correlation with their respective climate targets than the best single- and dual-proxy estimators. Furthermore, SMITE model parameters are highly reproducible between the two coral cores, indicating great potential for fossil applications (when preservation is high). The results shown here indicate that the SMITE method can outperform the most common coral-based SST and pH_swreconstructions methods to date, particularly in datasets with a large variety of geochemical variables. We therefore provide a list of recommendations and procedures for users to begin implementing the SMITE method as well as an open-source software package to facilitate dissemination of the SMITE method. 

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4. Central Equatorial Pacific Warming and Freshening in the Twentieth Century: Insights From a Coral Ensemble Approach

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094051  

   Hitt, Nicholas T.; Sayani, Hussein R.; Atwood, Alyssa R.; Grothe, Pamela R.; Maupin, Christopher; O’Connor, Gemma K.; Walter, Rachel M.; Gebregiorgis, Daniel; Hardt, Madeleine E.; Lu, Yanbin; et al (December 2021, Geophysical Research Letters)

   Abstract The tropical Pacific influences climate patterns across the globe, yet robust constraints on decadal to centennial‐scale climate variations are difficult to extract from sparse instrumental observations in this region. Oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) records from long‐lived corals enable the quantitative reconstruction of tropical Pacific climate variability and trends over the twentieth century and beyond, but such corals are exceedingly rare. Here, we use multiple short coral δ¹⁸O records to create a coral ‘ensemble’ reconstruction of twentieth century climate in the central tropical Pacific. Ten U/Th‐dated fossil coral δ¹⁸O records from Kiritimati Island (2°N, 157°W) span 1891 CE to 2006 CE, with the younger samples enabling quantitative comparison to a large ensemble of modern coral records and instrumental sea surface temperature. A composite record constructed of modern and fossil Kiritimati coral δ¹⁸O records shows a shift toward warmer and fresher conditions from 1970 CE onward, consistent with previously published records in this region. 

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5. Fidelity of the Coral Sr/Ca Paleothermometer Following Heat Stress in the Northern Galápagos

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2021PA004323  

   Cheung, Anson H.; Cole, Julia E.; Thompson, Diane M.; Vetter, Lael; Jimenez, Gloria; Tudhope, Alexander W. (December 2021, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology)

   Abstract Coral Sr/Ca records have been widely used to reconstruct and understand past sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the tropical Pacific. However, in the eastern equatorial Pacific, coral growth conditions are marginal, and strong El Niño events have led to high mortality, limiting opportunities for coral Sr/Ca‐based SST reconstructions. In this study, we present two ∼25‐year Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca records measured on modernPorites lobatafrom Wolf and Darwin Islands in the northern Galápagos. In these records, we confirm the well‐established relationship between Sr/Ca and SST and investigate the impact of heat stress on this relationship. We demonstrate a weakened relationship between Sr/Ca and SST after a major (Degree Heating Months 9°C‐months) heat stress event during the 1997–1998 El Niño, with a larger response in the Wolf core. However, removing data that covers the 1997–1998 El Niño from calibration does not improve reconstruction statistics. Nevertheless, we find that excluding dataafterthe 1997–1998 El Niño event from the calibration reduces the SST reconstruction error slightly. These results confirm that coral Sr/Ca is a reliable SST proxy in this region, although it can respond adversely to unusual heat stress. We suggest that noise in Sr/Ca‐SST calibrations may be reduced by removing data immediately following large heat extremes. 

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