ANSTO's research capabilities, led by the OPAL nuclear research reactor and associated instruments provide access to users investigating areas as diverse as materials, life sciences, climate change and mining/engineering.
High-resolution climatic records from corals, Cocos (Keeling) Islands
The influence of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Indian Ocean is still being debated, but there is a growing body of evidence suggesting a possible link between changes in the tropical Pacific and those in the Indian Ocean during ENSO events.
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| Taking measurements in the Cocos Islands |
The Indian Ocean also displays its own internal mode known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). High-resolution 14C for long-lived corals from Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the East Indian ocean during the period 1924-1991, together with stable isotopes and trace elements, allows an assessment of ENSO and IOD behaviour in the eastern Indian Ocean.
Project support
AINSE Grants 01/207, 02/150P & 04/174
Project team members
David Fink (ANSTO), Mike Gagan (Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National Univ.), Ed Hodge (ANSTO), Quan Hua (ANSTO), Helen McGregor (AINSE Research Fellow & School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Univ. Wollongong), Scott Smithers (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook Univ.) and Colin Woodroffe (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Univ. Wollongong).
Publications related to this project
Hua, Q., C.D. Woodroffe, S.G. Smithers, M. Barbetti, and D. Fink (2005), Radiocarbon in corals from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and implications for Indian Ocean circulation, Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L21602, doi: 10.1029/2005GL023882.
Abstracts related to this project
Hua, Q., E. Hodge, D. Fink, C.D. Woodroffe, S.G. Smithers, H.V. McGergor, and M. Gagan (2007), ENSO and Indian Ocean Dipole in eastern Indian Ocean derived from isotopic records in modern corals from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the 17th INQUA Congress, 28 Jul V 3 Aug 2007, Cairns, Australia, Quaternary International, 167-168, 180.
Hua, Q., E. Hodge, D. Fink, C.D. Woodroffe, S.G. Smithers, H.V. McGergor, and M. Gagan, Radiocarbon and 18O in modern corals from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and implications for ENSO and Indian Ocean Dipole in eastern Indian Ocean (2007), Geophys. Res. Abstracts, 9, 05954, SRef-ID: 1607-7962/gra/EGU2007-A-05954.
Hua, Q., C.D. Woodroffe, S.G. Smithers, M. Barbetti, and D. Fink, Radiocarbon in corals from the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and implications for Indian Ocean circulation, The 10th International Conference on AMS, 5-10 Sep 2005, Berkeley, USA.