Coral record of equatorial sea-surface temperatures during the penultimatedeglaciation at Huon Peninsula

Uplifted coral terraces at Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, preserve a rec ord of sea level, sea-surface temperature, and salinity from the penultimat e deglaciation. Remnants have been found of a shallow-water reef that forme d during a pause, similar to the Younger Dryas, in the penultimate deglacia tion at 130,000 +/- 2000 years ago, when sea Level was 60 to 80 meters lowe r than it is today. Porites coral, which grew during this period, has oxyge n isotopic values and strontium/calcium ratios that indicate that sea-surfa ce temperatures were much cooler (22 degrees +/- 2 degrees C) than either L ast Interglacial or present-day tropical temperatures (29 degrees +/- 1 deg rees C). These observations provide further evidence for a major cooling of the equatorial western Pacific followed by an extremely rapid rise in sea level during the Latter stages of Termination II.