Banded corals; changes in oceanic carbon-14 during the Little Ice Age
Druffel EM. 1982. Banded corals; changes in oceanic carbon-14 during the Little Ice Age. Science. 218(4567):13-19
Radiocarbon analyses and stable isotopes measurements are presented for two recent cores of banded corals from the Florida Straits. These values provide a record of variations in the ratio of carbon -14 to carbon -12 in the dissolved inorganic carbon in the surface waters of the Gulf Stream from A.D. 1642 to 1800. An increase in the carbon -14/carbon -12 ratio of 7 per mil for coral growth during the early 1700's was most likely induced by an increase in the carbon -14/carbon -12 ratio of 20 per mil in the atmospheric carbon dioxide that occured at about 1700. The ratios of oxygen -18 to oxygen -16 in these coral bands show a small decrease of water temperature (~1 degree C) during the latter part of the Little Ice Age (1700 to 1725). These results support the hypothesis that the increase in atmospheric carbon -14 at about 1700, and possibly the temperature change as well, was caused by a decrease in solar activity (Maunder sunspot minimum).
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Druffel, E
- Units
- BISC
- Keywords
- Anthozoa, Atmosphere, Biochemistry, c 12, C 14, Carbon, Carbon Dioxide, climate effects, Coelenterata, Cores, Eastern U.S., Florida, Florida Keys, Geology, Growth, Holocene, Isotopes, little ice age, Marine Environment, Monroe County, North American Atlantic, North Atlantic, Oceanography, paleo oceanography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology, Quaternary, Reefs, Scleractinia, solar activity, Southeastern U.S., Straits of Florida, Stratigraphy, Temperature, The Rocks, Upper Holocene