title: Coral record of equatorial sea-surface temperatures during the penultimate deglaciation at huon peninsula
abstract: Uplifted coral terraces at Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, preserve a record of sea level, sea-surface temperature, and salinity from the penultimate deglaciation. Remnants have been found of a shallow-water reef that formed during a pause, similar to the Younger Dryas, in the penultimate deglaciation at 130,000 +/- 2000 years ago, when sea level was 60 to 80 meters lower than it is today. Porites coral, which grew during this period, has oxygen isotopic values and strontium/calcium ratios that indicate that sea-surface temperatures were much cooler (22 degrees +/- 2 degreesC) than either Last Interglacial or present-day tropical temperatures (29 degrees +/- 1 degreesC). These observations provide further evidence for a major cooling of the equatorial western Pacific followed by an extremely rapid rise in sea level during the latter stages of Termination II.
authors.affiliation: M. T. McCulloch, T. M. Esat, G. E. Mortimer, J. Chappell, B. Pillans, A. R. Chivas, Research Schools of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. A. W. Tudhope, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Edinburg.
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: McCulloch
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Tudhope
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Esat
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Mortimer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chappell
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pillans
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Chivas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omura