Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 30 Issue 01

View Issue TOC
Volume 30, No. 1
Pages 104 - 107

OpenAccess

HANDS-ON OCEANOGRAPHY • Paleoclimate Reconstruction from Oxygen Isotopes in a Coral Skeleton from East Africa: A Data-Enhanced Learning Experience

By David P. Gillikin , Anouk Verheyden, and David H. Goodwin 
Jump to
Citation Supplementary Materials References Copyright & Usage
First Paragraph

Purpose of Activity. One of the several benefits of data-enhanced learning experiences that expose students to the process of scientific inquiry and methods of data analysis is to prepare students to address real-world problems such as climate change (Kirk et al., 2014). Because the science behind climate and paleoclimate research is complex, these topics are typically covered in specialized or upper-level courses. Non-science majors should be exposed to climate science so they can better evaluate the world around them and how the media portrays the topic. Here, we present an activity targeting non-major, general education, introductory students that provides a data-enhanced learning experience and illustrates the basics of how paleoclimate can be reconstructed. Specifically, this activity shows how marine paleoclimate records are reconstructed from biological carbonates (corals) and also strengthens students’ basic statistical and spreadsheet skills. Students use published coral isotope data downloaded from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Paleoclimate Database to develop a paleotemperature equation from oxygen isotope data paired with sea surface temperature (SST) data. They then use this equation to hindcast SST back to the beginning of the coral record in 1801. Students are exposed to isotope geochemistry (at a basic level), as well as error analysis, to better understand how paleoclimate records are generated.

Citation

Gillikin, D.P., A. Verheyden, and D.H. Goodwin. 2017. Paleoclimate reconstruction from oxygen isotopes in a coral skeleton from East Africa: A data-enhanced learning experience. Oceanography 30(1):104–107, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2017.104.

Supplementary Materials

Lab Handout (103 KB pdf)

• Malindi (2000) Annual O18 Data (3 KB .txt file)

References
    Cole, J.E., R.B. Dunbar, T.R. McClanahan, and N.A. Muthiga. 2000. Tropical Pacific forcing of decadal SST variability in the western Indian Ocean over the past two centuries. Science 287:617–619, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5453.617.
  1. Dansgaard, W. 1964. Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus A 16:436–468, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1964.tb00181.x.
  2. Emiliani, C. 1955. Pleistocene temperatures. The Journal of Geology 63(6):538–578.
  3. Epstein, S., R. Buchsbaum, H.A. Lowenstam, and H.C. Urey. 1953. Revised carbonate-water isotopic temperature scale. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 64:1,315–1,326, https://doi.org/​10.1130/0016-7606(1953)64​[1315:RCITS]2.0.CO;2.
  4. Epstein, S., and T. Mayeda. 1953. Variation of 18O content of waters from natural sources. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 4:213–224, https://doi.org/​10.1016/0016-7037(53)90051-9.
  5. Fry, B. 2007. Stable Isotope Ecology. Springer Science & Business Media, New York, NY, 308 pp.
  6. Grossman, E.L., and T.L. Ku. 1986. Oxygen and carbon isotope fractionation in biogenic aragonite: Temperature effects. Chemical Geology 59:59–74, https://doi.org/​10.1016/0168-9622(86)90057-6.
  7. Joussaume, S., and P. Braconnot. 1997. Sensitivity of paleoclimate simulation results to season definitions. Journal of Geophysical Research 102(D2):1,943–1,956, https://doi.org/10.1029/96JD01989.
  8. Kim, S.T., J.R. O’Neil, C. Hillaire-Marcel, and A. Mucci. 2007. Oxygen isotope fractionation between synthetic aragonite and water: Influence of temperature and Mg2+ concentration. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71:4,704–4,715, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2007.04.019.
  9. Kirk, K.B., A.U. Gold, T.S. Ledley, S.B. Sullivan, C.A. Manduca, D.W. Mogk, and K. Wiese. 2014. Undergraduate climate education: Motivations, strategies, successes, and support. Journal of Geoscience Education 62:538–549, https://doi.org/10.5408/13-054.
  10. Linsley, B.K., R.G. Messier, and R.B. Dunbar. 1999. Assessing between-colony oxygen isotope variability in the coral Porites lobata at Clipperton Atoll. Coral Reefs 18:13–27, https://doi.org/10.1007/s003380050148.
  11. McConnaughey, T.A. 1989. 13C and 18O isotopic disequilibrium in biological carbonates: Part 2. In vitro simulation of kinetic isotope effects. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53:163–171, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(89)90283-4.
  12. McCrea, J.M. 1950. On the isotopic chemistry of carbonates and a paleotemperature scale. Journal of Chemical Physics 18:849–857, https://doi.org/​10.1063/1.1747785.
  13. Phipps, S.J., H.V. McGregor, J. Gergis, A. J. Gallant, R. Neukom, S. Stevenson, D. Ackerley, J.R. Brown, M.J. Fischer, and T.D. Van Ommen. 2013. Paleoclimate data–model comparison and the role of climate forcings over the past 1500 years. Journal of Climate 26:6,915–6,936, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00108.1.
  14. Sharp, Z. 2007. Principles of Stable Isotope Geochemistry. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 344 pp.
  15. Swart, P.K. 1983. Carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in scleractinian corals: A review. Earth Science Reviews 19:51–80, https://doi.org/10.1016/​0012-8252(83)90076-4.
  16. Urey, H.C. 1947. The thermodynamic properties of isotopic substances. Journal of the Chemical Society 1947:562–581, https://doi.org/10.1039/JR9470000562.
  17. Wanamaker, A.D. Jr., K.J. Kreutz, H.W. Borns Jr., D.S. Introne, S. Feindel, and B.J. Barber. 2006. An aquaculture-based method for calibrated bivalve isotope paleothermometry. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 7, Q09011, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GC001189.
Copyright & Usage

This is an open access article made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format as long as users cite the materials appropriately, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate the changes that were made to the original content. Images, animations, videos, or other third-party material used in articles are included in the Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission directly from the license holder to reproduce the material.