SREL Reprint #2588

Otolith δ18O record of mid-Holocene sea surface temperatures in Peru

C. Fred T. Andrus1, Douglas E. Crowe1, Daniel H. Sandweiss2, Elizabeth J. Reitz3,
and Christopher S. Romanek1,4

1Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2501, USA
2Department of Anthropology and Institute for Quaternary Research, S. Stevens Hall,
University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
3Department of Anthropology and Georgia Museum of Natural History, Natural History Building,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1882, USA
4Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Abstract: Peruvian sea catfish (Galeichthys peruvianus) sagittal otoliths preserve a record of modern and mid-Holocene sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Oxygen isotope profiles in otoliths excavated from Ostra [6010 ± 90 years before the present (yr B.P.); 8°55'S] indicate that summer SSTs were ~3°C warmer than those of the present. Siches otoliths (6450 ± 110 yr B.P.; 4°40'S) recorded mean annual temperatures ~3°C to 4°C warmer than were measured under modern conditions. Trophic level and population diversity and equitability data from these faunal assemblages and other Peruvian archaeological sites support the isotope interpretations and suggest that upwelling of the Peru-Chile current intensified after ~5000 yr B.P.

SREL Reprint #2588

Andrus, C. F. T., D. E. Crowe, D. H. Sandweiss, E. J. Reitz, and C. S. Romanek. 2002. Otolith δ18O record of mid-Holocene sea surface temperatures in Peru. Science. 295:1508-1511.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).