Arctic and Antarctic Oscillation Signatures in tropical coral proxies over the South China Sea

Abstract

The climatic influences of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) are dominant in the mid-high latitudes. In this study, we report that AO and AAO signals are well recorded in a coral proxy in the tropical South China Sea. There are significant interannual signals of the AO and AAO in the strontium (Sr) content, where the Sr content represents the sea surface temperature (SST). Among all the seasons, the most significant correlation takes place during winter in both the hemispheres: the strongest AO-Sr coral correlation occurs in January, and the strongest AAO-Sr correlation occurs in August. It is also found that the Sr content lags the AO and AAO by 1？3 months. Large-scale anomalies in the sea level pressure and the horizontal wind at 850 hPa support the robustness of AO/AAO？coral teleconnections. The results provide evidence of the East Asian monsoons responding to high-latitude climate and provide useful information for the monsoon and AO/AAO reconstructions.