This project will examine geochemistry of corals (Sr/Ca and 18 O) collected from Christmas Atoll (Kirtimati) in the central equatorial Pacific spanning the deglacial period 7-13 Ka to assess regional changes in sea surface temperature and salinity over that time. The project will test the hypothesis that prior to 11.7 Ka, when the large shelf areas of the western Pacific were exposed, tropical Pacific temperatures were cooler than today and ENSO conditions did not occur. A calibration of Sr/Ca versus SST in the dominant species, A. hyacinthus, will be done on speciments from the Smithsonian collection as well as those collected at Christmas Atoll.
