Estrella-Martínez, Juan A.

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Caribbean sea water temperatures of the last 500 years as derived from Sclerosponges
(2013) Estrella-Martínez, Juan A.; Winter, Amos; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Sherman, Clark; Ramírez, Wilson R.; Kubaryk, John M.; Department of Marine Sciences; Irizarry-Soto, Emmanuel
A high-resolution record of the Caribbean mixed layer temperature at different depths derived from oxygen isotopic ratios obtained from the sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni is presented. Sclerosponges precipitate calcium carbonate skeletons in equilibrium with their surrounding environment and can live at depths down to 200m. The sponges were collected off the coasts of Puerto Rico and St. Croix in northeastern Caribbean Sea. The records obtained extend from the early 1500’s to the present and suggest that the northeastern Caribbean was 1-2°C cooler than present during the Little Ice Age. Wavelet analysis of the sclerosponge records indicate that when the total solar irradiance (TSI) reaches a threshold value of 1365.29Wm-2 there is a coupling of the eleven-year sunspot cycle with the decadal sclerosponge-derived temperature variability. The findings suggest a local temperature response to TSI of 0.62°C(W/m2)-1 for the 20th century, similar to previously published global values of climate solar sensitivity.