An early onset of ENSO influence in the extra-tropics of the southwest Pacific inferred from a 14, 600 year high resolution multi-proxy record from Paddy's Lake, northwest Tasmania

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dc.contributor.authorBeck, KKen_AU
dc.contributor.authorFletcher, MSen_AU
dc.contributor.authorGadd, PSen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHeijnis, Hen_AU
dc.contributor.authorJacobsen, GEen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-25T21:08:06Zen_AU
dc.date.available2020-03-25T21:08:06Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2017-02-01en_AU
dc.date.statistics2020-03-20en_AU
dc.description.abstractTropical El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important influence on natural systems and cultural change across the Pacific Ocean basin. El Niño events result in negative moisture anomalies in the southwest Pacific and are implicated in droughts and catastrophic wildfires across eastern Australia. An amplification of tropical El Niño activity is reported in the east Pacific after ca. 6.7 ka; however, proxy data for ENSO-driven environmental change in Australia suggest an initial influence only after ca. 5 ka. Here, we reconstruct changes in vegetation, fire activity and catchment dynamics (e.g. erosion) over the last 14.6 ka from part of the southwest Pacific in which ENSO is the main control of interannual hydroclimatic variability: Paddy's Lake, in northwest Tasmania (1065 masl), Australia. Our multi-proxy approach includes analyses of charcoal, pollen, geochemistry and radioactive isotopes. Our results reveal a high sensitivity of the local and regional vegetation to climatic change, with an increase of non-arboreal pollen between ca. 14.6–13.3 ka synchronous with the Antarctic Cold Reversal, and a sensitivity of the local vegetation and fire activity to ENSO variability recorded in the tropical east Pacific through the Holocene. We detect local-scale shifts in vegetation, fire and sediment geochemistry at ca. 6.3, 4.8 and 3.4 ka, simultaneous with increases in El Niño activity in the tropical Pacific. Finally, we observe a fire-driven shift in vegetation from a pyrophobic association dominated by rainforest elements to a pyrogenic association dominated by sclerophyllous taxa following a prolonged (>1 ka) phase of tropical ENSO-amplification and a major local fire event at ca. 3.4 ka. Our results reveal the following key insights: (1) that ENSO has been a persistent modulator of southwest Pacific climate and fire activity through the Holocene; (2) that the climate of northwest Tasmania is sensitive to long-term shifts in tropical ENSO variability; and (3) that there has been possible stationarity in the spatial influence of ENSO over this region through the Holocene. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationBeck, K. K., Fletcher, M.-S., Gadd, P. S., Heijnis, H., & Jacobsen, G. E. (2017). An early onset of ENSO influence in the extra-tropics of the southwest Pacific inferred from a 14, 600 year high resolution multi-proxy record from Paddy's Lake, northwest Tasmania. Quaternary Science Reviews, 157, 164-175. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.12.001en_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc8961en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0277-3791en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleQuaternary Science Reviewsen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination164-175en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.12.001en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/9238en_AU
dc.identifier.volume157en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevier B.V.en_AU
dc.subjectSouthern Oscillationen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectTasmaniaen_AU
dc.subjectEcologyen_AU
dc.subjectPollenen_AU
dc.subjectGeochemistryen_AU
dc.subjectEcosystemsen_AU
dc.subjectQuaternary perioden_AU
dc.subjectPlantsen_AU
dc.subjectFiresen_AU
dc.titleAn early onset of ENSO influence in the extra-tropics of the southwest Pacific inferred from a 14, 600 year high resolution multi-proxy record from Paddy's Lake, northwest Tasmaniaen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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