South Pacific hydrologic and cyclone variability during the last 3000 years
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Toomey_et_al-2016-Paleoceanogr ...
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AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNIONCitation
Toomey,M.R., J.P.Donnelly,and J. E. Tierney (2016), South Pacific hydrologic and cyclone variability during the last 3000 years, Paleoceanography, 31, 491–504, doi:10.1002/2015PA002870.Journal
PaleoceanographyRights
© 2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Major excursions in the position of the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) and/or changes in its intensity are thought to drive tropical cyclone (TC) and precipitation variability across much of the central South Pacific. A lack of conventional sites typically used for multimillennial proxy reconstructions has limited efforts to extend observational rainfall/TC data sets and our ability to fully assess the risks posed to central Pacific islands by future changes in fresh water availability or the frequency of storm landfalls. Here we use the sedimentary record of Apu Bay, offshore the island of Tahaa, French Polynesia, to explore the relationship between SPCZ position/intensity and tropical cyclone overwash, resolved at decadal time scales, since 3200years B.P. Changes in orbital precession and Pacific sea surface temperatures best explain evidence for a coordinated pattern of rainfall variability at Tahaa and across the Pacific over the late Holocene. Our companion record of tropical cyclone activity from Tahaa suggests major storm activity was higher between 2600-1500years B.P., when decadal scale SPCZ variability may also have been stronger. A transition to lower storm frequency and a shift or expansion of the SPCZ toward French Polynesia around 1000years B.P. may have prompted Polynesian migration into the central Pacific.Note
Publisher's version/PDF must be used in Institutional Repository 6 months after publication.ISSN
08838305Version
Final published versionAdditional Links
http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2015PA002870ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/2015PA002870