Wet and cold climate conditions recorded by coral geochemical proxies during the beginning of the first millennium CE in the northern South China Sea

Xiao, H., Deng, W., Chen, X., Wei, G., Zeng, T. and Zhao, J.: Wet and cold climate conditions recorded by coral geochemical proxies during the beginning of the first millennium CE in the northern South China Sea, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 135, 25–34, doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.12.012, 2017.

The data on the NOAA web site combines the two cores together into one long record, the dead coral cores spans 1411-1644 with some overlap and the modern coral spans 1915-1944. The Geology paper and supplemental data do not have much methods information and I downloaded Kellys dissertaion but it is just the published papers. I am familar with the Quinns lab procedures so I filled in information where I could. This is one of the few coral records that spans the earlier part of the LIA so it is important to include even if it is not continous. Kelly has another coral record in her dissertaion for the Medieval Climate Anomaly from Tasmaloum, Vanuatu (15.6i¿½S, 166.9i¿½E), and I am not sure her status with publishing this work but I will ask Terry.

Thermo-Finnigan MAT253 Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS), with a  Kiel IV Carbonate Device, and on a Thermo-Finnigan Delta V Plus IRMS  with Gasbench II (GB II) connected to a Conflo IV, both at the Analytical Laboratory for Paleoclimate Studies (ALPS) at the Jackson  School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin. Longterm precision for this instrument of 0.06? for d18O and 0.03? for d13C. The precision of the  GB II/Delta V Plus IRMS is  long-term precision for this instrument of  0.07? for d18O and 0.03? for d13C. Internal standards testing confirms that isotopic values are consistent between the two instruments.

The geochemical age model was shifted within error of the 230Th dates (Table DR1) to match the timing of the 1578 CE El Nii¿½o event known from historical records (Ortlieb, 2000). The U-th dates have errors of 2-4 year for the fossil corals and the 20th century corals had U-Th erros of 3-5 years.