Articles | Volume 22, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-1529-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-1529-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 May 2026
Research article |
| 18 May 2026
| 18 May 2026
Cuban coral traces annual hydrologically driven variability in δ234U values since the end of the Little Ice Age
Sahra Greve
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Norbert Frank
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Paolo Montagna
Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP), National Research Council, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
Carlos Manuel Alonso-Hernández
IAEA Environment Laboratories 4, Quai Antoine 1er, 98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco
Miguel Gomez-Batista
Centro de Estudios Ambientales de Cienfuegos (CEAC), Cienfuegos, Cuba
Eric Douville
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 911-91 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Sophie Warken
Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Related authors
Sahra Greve, Norbert Frank, Sophie Warken, Paolo Montagna, Amos Winter, Serguei Damián Rico-Esenaro, Juan P. Carricart-Ganivet, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernández, Carlos Alonso-Hernández, Miguel Gomez–Batista, Marco Taviani, and Steffen Hetzinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3519, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3519, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
Short summary
Short summary
Coral skeletons record subtle changes in the uranium composition of seawater, providing a window into past environmental conditions. By comparing different coral species, colonies, and sampling methods, we show that corals can reliably detect very small changes (0.6 ‰) associated with freshwater input and climate variability. This makes them a valuable tool for reconstructing past changes in reef and coastal environments.
Sahra Greve, Norbert Frank, Sophie Warken, Paolo Montagna, Amos Winter, Serguei Damián Rico-Esenaro, Juan P. Carricart-Ganivet, Joan-Albert Sanchez-Cabeza, Ana Carolina Ruiz-Fernández, Carlos Alonso-Hernández, Miguel Gomez–Batista, Marco Taviani, and Steffen Hetzinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3519, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-3519, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geochronology (GChron).
Short summary
Short summary
Coral skeletons record subtle changes in the uranium composition of seawater, providing a window into past environmental conditions. By comparing different coral species, colonies, and sampling methods, we show that corals can reliably detect very small changes (0.6 ‰) associated with freshwater input and climate variability. This makes them a valuable tool for reconstructing past changes in reef and coastal environments.
Nils Schorndorf, Sophie F. Warken, René Eichstädter, Aaron S. Mielke, Jerónimo Avilés Olguín, Frank Keppler, Dominik Hennhöfer, Fátima Tec Pool, Carlos Evia, María José Gómez, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, and Norbert Frank
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2284, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2284, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
To accurately understand past climate change, exact chronologies are fundamental. We dated multiple stalagmites from the Yucatán Peninsula covering the last 2,700 years. Because these cave deposits contain high and variable amounts of contaminating elements that distort age models, we developed a multi-method approach to correct the timelines. Our corrected records now provide a reliable foundation for future studies to track ancient droughts, floods, and their links to Maya cultural evolution.
Federica Foglini, Marzia Rovere, Renato Tonielli, Giorgio Castellan, Mariacristina Prampolini, Francesca Budillon, Marco Cuffaro, Gabriella Di Martino, Valentina Grande, Sara Innangi, Maria Filomena Loreto, Leonardo Langone, Fantina Madricardo, Alessandra Mercorella, Paolo Montagna, Camilla Palmiotto, Claudio Pellegrini, Antonio Petrizzo, Lorenzo Petracchini, Alessandro Remia, Marco Sacchi, Daphnie Sanchez Galvez, Anna Nora Tassetti, and Fabio Trincardi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 181–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-181-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-181-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In 2022, the new CNR research vessel Gaia Blu explored the seabed of the Naples and Pozzuoli gulfs and the Amalfi coastal area (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) from 50–2000 m water depth, covering 5000 m2 of seafloor. This paper describes data acquisition and processing and provides maps in unprecedented detail of this area affected by geological changes and human impacts. The findings support future geological and geomorphological investigations and mapping and monitoring of the seafloor and habitats.
Inga Kristina Kerber, Fabian Kontor, Aaron Mielke, Sophie Warken, and Norbert Frank
Geochronology, 7, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A stand-alone data analysis application for Th/U dating on multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers features a Python-based algorithm with a graphical user interface. It handles data treatment, corrections, age calculus, and error estimation and supports various detector layouts including Faraday and electron multiplier detectors. Key features include reproducibility, user-friendly reanalysis, and automated data storage. A case study demonstrates the software’s performance.
Nikita Kaushal, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Micah Wilhelm, Khalil Azennoud, Janica C. Bühler, Kerstin Braun, Yassine Ait Brahim, Andy Baker, Yuval Burstyn, Laia Comas-Bru, Jens Fohlmeister, Yonaton Goldsmith, Sandy P. Harrison, István G. Hatvani, Kira Rehfeld, Magdalena Ritzau, Vanessa Skiba, Heather M. Stoll, József G. Szűcs, Péter Tanos, Pauline C. Treble, Vitor Azevedo, Jonathan L. Baker, Andrea Borsato, Sakonvan Chawchai, Andrea Columbu, Laura Endres, Jun Hu, Zoltán Kern, Alena Kimbrough, Koray Koç, Monika Markowska, Belen Martrat, Syed Masood Ahmad, Carole Nehme, Valdir Felipe Novello, Carlos Pérez-Mejías, Jiaoyang Ruan, Natasha Sekhon, Nitesh Sinha, Carol V. Tadros, Benjamin H. Tiger, Sophie Warken, Annabel Wolf, Haiwei Zhang, and SISAL Working Group members
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1933–1963, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1933-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1933-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Speleothems are a popular, multi-proxy climate archive that provide regional to global insights into past hydroclimate trends with precise chronologies. We present an update to the SISAL (Speleothem Isotopes
Synthesis and AnaLysis) database, SISALv3, which, for the first time, contains speleothem trace element records, in addition to an update to the stable isotope records available in previous versions of the database, cumulatively providing data from 365 globally distributed sites.
Synthesis and AnaLysis) database, SISALv3, which, for the first time, contains speleothem trace element records, in addition to an update to the stable isotope records available in previous versions of the database, cumulatively providing data from 365 globally distributed sites.
Nicolas Metzl, Jonathan Fin, Claire Lo Monaco, Claude Mignon, Samir Alliouane, David Antoine, Guillaume Bourdin, Jacqueline Boutin, Yann Bozec, Pascal Conan, Laurent Coppola, Frédéric Diaz, Eric Douville, Xavier Durrieu de Madron, Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Frédéric Gazeau, Melek Golbol, Bruno Lansard, Dominique Lefèvre, Nathalie Lefèvre, Fabien Lombard, Férial Louanchi, Liliane Merlivat, Léa Olivier, Anne Petrenko, Sébastien Petton, Mireille Pujo-Pay, Christophe Rabouille, Gilles Reverdin, Céline Ridame, Aline Tribollet, Vincenzo Vellucci, Thibaut Wagener, and Cathy Wimart-Rousseau
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 89–120, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-89-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-89-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents a synthesis of 44 000 total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon observations obtained between 1993 and 2022 in the Global Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea at the surface and in the water column. Seawater samples were measured using the same method and calibrated with international Certified Reference Material. We describe the data assemblage, quality control and some potential uses of this dataset.
Robin Fentimen, Eline Feenstra, Andres Rüggeberg, Efraim Hall, Valentin Rime, Torsten Vennemann, Irka Hajdas, Antonietta Rosso, David Van Rooij, Thierry Adatte, Hendrik Vogel, Norbert Frank, and Anneleen Foubert
Clim. Past, 18, 1915–1945, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1915-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1915-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The investigation of a 9 m long sediment core recovered at ca. 300 m water depth demonstrates that cold-water coral mound build-up within the East Melilla Coral Province (southeastern Alboran Sea) took place during both interglacial and glacial periods. Based on the combination of different analytical methods (e.g. radiometric dating, micropaleontology), we propose that corals never thrived but rather developed under stressful environmental conditions.
Sophie F. Warken, Therese Weißbach, Tobias Kluge, Hubert Vonhof, Denis Scholz, Rolf Vieten, Martina Schmidt, Amos Winter, and Norbert Frank
Clim. Past, 18, 167–181, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-167-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-167-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The analysis of fluid inclusions from a Puerto Rican speleothem provides quantitative information about past rainfall conditions and temperatures during the Last Glacial Period, when the climate was extremely variable. Our data show that the region experienced a climate that was generally colder and drier. However, we also reconstruct intervals when temperatures reached nearly modern values, and convective activity was comparable to or only slightly weaker than the present day.
Cited articles
Allison, N., Finch, A. A., Webster, J. M., and Clague, D. A.: Palaeoenvironmental records from fossil corals: The effects of submarine diagenesis on temperature and climate estimates, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 71, 4693–4703, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2007.07.026, 2007.
Alonso-Hernández, C. M., Fanelli, E., Diaz-Asencio, M., Santamaría, J. M., and Morera-Gómez, Y.: Carbon and nitrogen isotopes to distinguish sources of sedimentary organic matter in a Caribbean estuary, Isotop. Environ. Health Stud., 56, 654–672, https://doi.org/10.1080/10256016.2020.1819263, 2020.
Alonso-Hernández, C. M., Gómez-Batista, M., Helguera Pedraza, Y., Hernández-Albernas, J., Rico-Esenaro, S. D., Ruiz-Fernández, A. C., Sánchez-Cabeza, J. A., Douville, E., and Montagna, P.: Registro de temperatura superficial del mar (1778–2015) en Orbicella faveolata (Cnidaria: Scleractinia) del arrecife Cayo Santa María, Cuba, Revista de Investigaciones Marinas, 42, 37–53, 2022.
Andersen, M. B., Stirling, C. H., Porcelli, D., Halliday, A. N., Andersson, P. S., and Baskaran, M.: The tracing of riverine U in Arctic seawater with very precise234U/238U measurements, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 259, 171–185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.051, 2007.
Andersen, M. B., Stirling, C. H., Zimmermann, B., and Halliday, A. N.: Precise determination of the open ocean 234U/238U composition, Geochem. Geophy. Geosy., 11, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010gc003318, 2010.
Andersen, M. B., Elliott, T., Freymuth, H., Sims, K. W., Niu, Y., and Kelley, K. A.: The terrestrial uranium isotope cycle, Nature, 517, 356–359, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14062, 2015.
Androulidakis, Y., Kourafalou, V., Le Hénaff, M., Kang, H., Ntaganou, N., and Hu, C.: Gulf Stream evolution through the Straits of Florida: the role of eddies and upwelling near Cuba, Ocean Dynam., 70, 1005–1032, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-020-01381-5, 2020.
Androulidakis, Y. S. and Kourafalou, V. H.: On the processes that influence the transport and fate of Mississippi waters under flooding outflow conditions, Ocean Dynam., 63, 143–164, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-012-0587-8, 2013.
Arendt, C. A., Aciego, S. M., Sims, K. W. W., Das, S. B., Sheik, C., and Stevenson, E. I.: Influence of glacial meltwater on global seawater δ234U, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 225, 102–115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.01.007, 2018.
Asikainen, M.: State of disequilibrium between 238U, 234U, 226Ra and 222n in groundwater from bedrock, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 45, 201–206, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(81)90163-0, 1981.
Border, E. C.: Variability of δ234U in the Mediterranean Sea, Amazon Estuary, and Atlantic Ocean, INIS, http://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:52022202 (last access: June 2025), 2020.
Buddemeier, R. W., Maragos, J. E., and Knutson, D. W.: Radiographic studies of reef coral exoskeletons: Rates and patterns of coral growth, J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 14, 179–199, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(74)90024-0, 1974.
Burn, M. J., Holmes, J., Kennedy, L. M., Bain, A., Marshall, J. D., and Perdikaris, S.: A sediment-based reconstruction of Caribbean effective precipitation during the `Little Ice Age' from Freshwater Pond, Barbuda, Holocene, 26, 1237–1247, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616638418, 2016.
Carroll, J. L.: Dams and Damages: The Ojibway, the United States, and the Mississippi Headwaters Reservoirs, Minnesota History, 52, 2–15, 1990.
Centella-Artola, A., Bezanilla-Morlot, A., Serrano-Notivoli, R., Vazquez-Montenegro, R., Sierra-Lorenzo, M., and Chang-Dominguez, D.: A new long term gridded daily precipitation dataset at high-resolution for Cuba (CubaPrec1), Data Brief, 48, 109294, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109294, 2023.
Chabaux, F., Bourdon, B., and Riotte, J.: Chapter 3 U-Series Geochemistry in Weathering Profiles, River Waters and Lakes, in: Radioactivity in the Environment, Vol. 13, edited by: Krishnaswami, S. and Cochran, J. K., Elsevier, 49–104, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1569-4860(07)00003-4, 2008.
Chen, J. H., Lawrence Edwards, R., and Wasserburg, G. J.: 238U, 234U and 232Th in seawater, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 80, 241–251, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(86)90108-1, 1986.
Cheng, H., Lawrence Edwards, R., Shen, C.-C., Polyak, V. J., Asmerom, Y., Woodhead, J., Hellstrom, J., Wang, Y., Kong, X., Spötl, C., Wang, X., and Calvin Alexander, E.: Improvements in 230Th dating, 230Th and 234U half-life values, and U–Th isotopic measurements by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 371–372, 82–91, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.04.006, 2013.
Chutcharavan, P. M., Dutton, A., and Ellwood, M. J.: Seawater 234U/238U recorded by modern and fossil corals, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 224, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.12.017, 2018.
Cummings, J. A. and Smedstad, O. M.: Variational Data Assimilation for the Global Ocean, in: Data Assimilation for Atmospheric, Oceanic and Hydrologic Applications, Vol. II, edtited by: Park, S. K. and Xu, L., Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 303–343, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35088-7_13, 2013.
Cuny-Guirriec, K., Douville, E., Reynaud, S., Allemand, D., Bordier, L., Canesi, M., Mazzoli, C., Taviani, M., Canese, S., McCulloch, M., Trotter, J., Rico-Esenaro, S. D., Sanchez-Cabeza, J.-A., Ruiz-Fernández, A. C., Carricart-Ganivet, J. P., Scott, P. M., Sadekov, A., and Montagna, P.: Coral Li/Mg thermometry: Caveats and constraints, Chem. Geol., 523, 162–178, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.03.038, 2019.
Delanghe, D., Bard, E., and Hamelin, B.: New TIMS constraints on the uranium-238 and uranium-234 in seawaters from the main ocean basins and the Mediterranean Sea, Mar. Chem., 80, 79–93, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4203(02)00100-7, 2002.
DeLong, K. L., Flannery, J. A., Poore, R. Z., Quinn, T. M., Maupin, C. R., Lin, K., and Shen, C.-C.: A reconstruction of sea surface temperature variability in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico from 1734 to 2008 C.E. using cross-dated Sr/Ca records from the coral Siderastrea siderea, Paleoceanography, 29, 403–422, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013PA002524, 2014.
DeLong, K. L., Palmer, K., Wagner, A. J., Weerabaddana, M. M., Slowey, N., Herrmann, A. D., Duprey, N., Martínez-García, A., Jung, J., Hajdas, I., Rose, N. L., Roberts, S. L., Roberts, L. R., Cundy, A. B., Gaca, P., Milton, J. A., Yang, H., Turner, S. D., Huang, C.-Y., and Zinke, J.: The Flower Garden Banks Siderastrea siderea coral as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series, Anthrop. Rev., 10, 225–250, https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196221147616, 2023.
Dunk, R. M., Mills, R. A., and Jenkins, W. J.: A reevaluation of the oceanic uranium budget for the Holocene, Chem. Geol., 190, 45–67, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2541(02)00110-9, 2002.
Eggins, S. M., Grün, R., McCulloch, M. T., Pike, A. W. G., Chappell, J., Kinsley, L., Mortimer, G., Shelley, M., Murray-Wallace, C. V., Spötl, C., and Taylor, L: In situ U-series dating by laser-ablation multi-collector ICPMS: new prospects for Quaternary geochronology, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 24, 2523–2538, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.006, 2005.
Esat, T. M. and Yokoyama, Y.: Variability in the uranium isotopic composition of the oceans over glacial–interglacial timescales, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 70, 4140–4150, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2006.06.013, 2006.
Esat, T. M. and Yokoyama, Y.: Coupled uranium isotope and sea-level variations in the oceans, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 74, 7008–7020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.09.007, 2010.
Fensterer, C., Scholz, D., Hoffmann, D., Spötl, C., Pajón, J. M., and Mangini, A.: Cuban stalagmite suggests relationship between Caribbean precipitation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation during the past 1.3 ka, Holocene, 22, 1405–1412, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683612449759, 2012.
Fensterer, C., Scholz, D., Hoffmann, D. L., Spötl, C., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Horn, C., Pajón, J. M., and Mangini, A.: Millennial-scale climate variability during the last 12.5 ka recorded in a Caribbean speleothem, Earth Planeta. Sc. Lett., 361, 143–151, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.11.019, 2013.
Folwell, W. W.: A History of Minnesota, Minnesota Historical Society, https://books.google.de/books?id=2SYUAAAAYAAJ (last access: September 2025), 1921.
Frank, N., Turpin, L., Cabioch, G., Blamart, D., Tressens-Fedou, M., Colin, C., and Jean-Baptiste, P.: Open system U-series ages of corals from a subsiding reef in New Caledonia: Implications for sea level changes, and subsidence rate, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 249, 274–289, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2006.07.029, 2006.
Fratantoni, P. S., Lee, T. N., Podesta, G. P., and Muller-Karger, F.: The influence of Loop Current perturbations on the formation and evolution of Tortugas eddies in the southern Straits of Florida, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 103, 24759–24779, https://doi.org/10.1029/98JC02147, 1998.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Hopley, D., Cali, J. A., Mortimer, G. E., Chappell, J., McCulloch, M. T., and Head, M. J.: Temperature and Surface-Ocean Water Balance of the Mid-Holocene Tropical Western Pacific, Science, 279, 1014–1018, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.279.5353.1014, 1998.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Beck, J. W., Cole, J. E., Druffel, E. R. M., Dunbar, R. B., and Schrag, D. P.: New views of tropical paleoclimates from corals, Quaternary Sci. Rev., 19, 45–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00054-2, 2000.
Gallup, C. D., Edwards, R. L., and Johnson, R. G.: The timing of high sea levels over the past 200,000 years, Science, 263, 796–800, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5148.796, 1994.
Gonzalez-De Zayas, R., Merino-Ibarra, M., Soto-Jimenez, M. F., and Castillo-Sandoval, F. S.: Biogeochemical responses to nutrient inputs in a Cuban coastal lagoon: runoff, anthropogenic, and groundwater sources, Environ. Monit. Assess., 185, 10101–10114, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3316-y, 2013.
Greve, S., Frank, N., Montagna, P., Winter, A., Rico-Esenaro, S. D., Carricart-Ganivet, J. P., and Hetzinger, S.: Precision measurement of δ234U in annually banded tropical corals, Geochronology, in preparation, 2026a.
Greve, S., Frank, N., Montagna, P., Alonso-Hernandez, C., Douville, E., and Warken, S.: δ234U Values of the last 230 years in a Cuban coral ranging from 1777 to 2014 [dataset], PANGAEA [data set], https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.973159, 2026b.
Grzymko, T. J., Marcantonio, F., McKee, B. A., and Mike Stewart, C.: Temporal variability of uranium concentrations and 234U
Haase-Schramm, A., Böhm, F., Eisenhauer, A., Dullo, W.-C., Joachimski, M. M., Hansen, B., and Reitner, J.: Sr
Harbott, M., Wu, H. C., Kuhnert, H., Jimenez, C., González-Díaz, P., and Rixen, T.: A Warming Southern Gulf of Mexico: Reconstruction of Anthropogenic Environmental Changes From a Siderastrea siderea Coral on the Northern Coast of Cuba, Paleoceanogr. Paleoclimatol., 38, e2023PA004717, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023PA004717, 2023.
Hathorne, E. C., Felis, T., James, R. H., and Thomas, A.: Laser ablation ICP-MS screening of corals for diagenetically affected areas applied to Tahiti corals from the last deglaciation, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 75, 1490–1506, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.011, 2011.
Haug, H. G., Konrad, A. H., Daniel, M. S., Larry, C. P., and Ursula, R.: Southward Migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone Through the Holocene, Science, 293, 1304–1308, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059725, 2001.
Henderson, G. M.: Seawater (234U/238U) during the last 800 thousand years, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 199, 97–110, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(02)00556-3, 2002.
Henderson, G. M. and Slowey, N. C.: Evidence from U–Th dating against Northern Hemisphere forcing of the penultimate deglaciation, Nature, 404, 61–66, https://doi.org/10.1038/35003541, 2000.
Henderson, G. M., Cohen, A. S., and O'Nions, R. K.: 234U
Hitchcock, G. L., Wiseman, W. J., Boicourt, W. C., Mariano, A. J., Walker, N., Nelsen, T. A., and Ryan, E.: Property fields in an effluent plume of the Mississippi river, J. Mar. Syst., 12, 109–126, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0924-7963(96)00092-9, 1997.
Hodell, D. A., Brenner, M., Curtis, J. H., Medina-González, R., Ildefonso-Chan Can, E., Albornaz-Pat, A., and Guilderson, T. P.: Climate change on the Yucatan Peninsula during the Little Ice Age, Quatern. Res., 63, 109–121, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2004.11.004, 2005.
Horwitz, E. P., Dietz, M. L., Chlanzla, R., and Diamond, H.: Separation and preconcentration of uranium from acidic media by extraction chromatography, Analyt. Chem. Ac., 226, 25–37, 1992.
Hu, H.-M., Shen, C.-C., Cheng, H., Woodhead, J. D., Edwards, R. L., Zhao, J.-X., Huang, C.-Y., Lu, P.-Y., Chien, W.-Y., Wang, J., Jia, X., Yokoyama, Y., Cai, Y., and Zachariáš, J.: Sub-epsilon natural 234U/238U measurements refine the 234U half-life and U–Th geochronology, Sci. Adv., 11, eadu8117, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu8117, 2025.
Iturralde-Vinent, M. A., García-Casco, A., Rojas-Agramonte, Y., Proenza, J. A., Murphy, J. B., and Stern, R. J.: The geology of Cuba: A brief overview and synthesis, GSA Today, 26, 4–10, https://doi.org/10.1130/gsatg296a.1, 2016.
Ivanovich, M. and Harmon, R. S.: Uranium-series disequilibrium: applications to earth, marine, and environmental sciences, in: 2nd Edn., Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, ISBN 0 19 854278 X GBN, 1992.
Jaffey, A. H., Flynn, K. F., Glendenin, L. E., Bentley, W. C., and Essling, A. M.: Precision Measurement of Half-Lives and Specific Activities of 235U and 238U, Phys. Rev. C, 4, 1889–1906, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.4.1889, 1971.
Johns, W. E., Townsend, T. L., Fratantoni, D. M., and Wilson, W. D.: On the Atlantic inflow to the Caribbean Sea, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 49, 211–243, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0637(01)00041-3, 2002.
Johnson, S.: Climate and Catastrophe in Cuba and the Atlantic World in the Age of Revolution, University of North Carolina Press, https://doi.org/10.5149/9780807869345_johnson, 2011.
Kennett, D. J., Breitenbach, S. F. M., Aquino, V. V., Asmerom, Y., Awe, J., Baldini, J. U. L., Bartlein, P., Culleton, B. J., Ebert, C., Jazwa, C., Macri, M. J., Marwan, N., Polyak, V., Prufer, K. M., Ridley, H. E., Sodemann, H., Winterhalder, B., and Haug, G. H.: Development and Disintegration of Maya Political Systems in Response to Climate Change, Science, 338, 788–791, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1226299, 2012.
Kerber, I. K., Arps, J., Eichstädter, R., Kontor, F., Dornick, C., Schröder-Ritzrau, A., Babu, A., Warken, S., and Frank, N.: Simultaneous U and Th isotope measurements for U-series dating using MCICPMS, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. Sect. B, 539, 169–178, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2023.04.003, 2023.
Kerber, I. K., Kontor, F., Mielke, A., Warken, S., and Frank, N.: Technical note: “U–Th Analysis” – an open-source software dedicated to MCICPMS U-series-data treatment and evaluation, Geochronology, 7, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-7-1-2025, 2025.
Kigoshi, K.: Alpha-Recoil Thorium-234: Dissolution into Water and the Uranium-234/Uranium-238 Disequilibrium in Nature, Science, 173, 47–48, 1971.
Kilbourne, K. H., Quinn, T. M., Webb, R., Guilderson, T., Nyberg, J., and Winter, A.: Paleoclimate proxy perspective on Caribbean climate since the year 1751: Evidence of cooler temperatures and multidecadal variability, Paleoceanography, 23, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008pa001598, 2008.
Kipp, M. A., Li, H., Ellwood, M. J., John, S. G., Middag, R., Adkins, J. F., and Tissot, F. L. H.: 238U, 235U and 234U in seawater and deep-sea corals: A high-precision reappraisal, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 336, 231–248, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2022.09.018, 2022.
Ku, T.-L., Knauss, K. G., and Mathieu, G. G.: Uranium in open ocean: concentration and isotopic composition, Deep-Sea Res., 24, 1005–1017, 1977.
Ladd, M., Viau, A., Way, R., Gajewski, K., and Sawada, M.: Variations in precipitation in North America during the past 2000 years, Holocene, 28, 667–675, https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683617735583, 2018.
Leaman, K. D., Vertes, P. S., Atkinson, L. P., Lee, T. N., Hamilton, P., and Waddell, E.: Transport, potential vorticity, and current/temperature structure across Northwest Providence and Santaren Channels and the Florida Current off Cay Sal Bank, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 100, 8561–8569, https://doi.org/10.1029/94JC01436, 1995.
Leder, J. J., Swart, P. K., Szmant, A. M., and Dodge, R. E.: The origin of variations in the isotopic record of scleractinian corals: I. Oxygen, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 60, 2857–2870, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(96)00118-4, 1996.
Li, L., Chen, J., Chen, T., Chen, Y., Hedding, D. W., Li, G., Li, L., Li, T., Robinson, L. F., West, A. J., Wu, W., You, C.-F., Zhao, L., and Li, G.: Weathering dynamics reflected by the response of riverine uranium isotope disequilibrium to changes in denudation rate, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 500, 136–144, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.08.008, 2018.
Li, T., Robinson, L. F., MacGilchrist, G. A., Chen, T., Stewart, J. A., Burke, A., Wang, M., Li, G., Chen, J., and Rae, J. W. B.: Enhanced subglacial discharge from Antarctica during meltwater pulse 1A, Nat. Commun., 14, 7327, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42974-0, 2023.
Limia, M., Vega, R., and Pérez, R.: Climatología de los ciclones tropicales que han afectado a Cuba y sus provincias, Memorias del X Congreso Latinoamericano e Ibérico de Meteorología “La meteorología y el desarrollo sostenible”, La Habana, Cuba, http://rcm.insmet.cu (last access: January 2025) 2003.
Lund, D. C. and Curry, W.: Florida Current surface temperature and salinity variability during the last millennium, Paleoceanography, 21, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005PA001218, 2006.
Lund, D. C., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., and Curry, W. B.: Gulf Stream density structure and transport during the past millennium, Nature, 444, 601–604, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05277, 2006.
Martinez, C., Goddard, L., Kushnir, Y., and Ting, M.: Seasonal climatology and dynamical mechanisms of rainfall in the Caribbean, Clim. Dynam., 53, 825–846, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04616-4, 2019.
Monzote, R. F.: From rainforest to cane field in Cuba: an environmental history since 1492, Univ. of North Carolina Press, https://doi.org/10.5149/9780807888865_funes_monzote, 2008.
Monzote, R. F.: Land Use in the Caribbean from the Mid-Nineteenth Century to 1950, The Anthropocene as Multiple Crisis: Perspectives from Latin America, in: Land Use – Handbook of the Anthropocene in Latin America I, edtied by: Kaltmeier, O., López Sandoval, M. F., Pádua, J. A., and Zarrilli, A. G., Bielefeld University Press, Bielefeld, 281–286, https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839470114, 2024.
Morey, S. L., Martin, P. J., O'Brien, J. J., Wallcraft, A. A., and Zavala-Hidalgo, J.: Export pathways for river discharged fresh water in the northern Gulf of Mexico, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 108, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001674, 2003.
Muller-Karger, F. E.: The spring 98 northeastern Gulf of Mexico (NEGOM) cold water event: Remote sensing evidence for upwelling and for eastward advection of Mississippi water (or: How an errant Loop Current anticyclone took the NEGOM for a spin), Gulf of Mexico, Science, 18, 6, https://doi.org/10.18785/goms.1801.06, 2000.
Not, C., Brown, K., Ghaleb, B., and Hillaire-Marcel, C.: Conservative behavior of uranium vs. salinity in Arctic sea ice and brine, Mar. Chem., 130–131, 33–39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2011.12.005, 2012.
Oey, L.-Y., Lee, H.-C., and Schmitz Jr., W. J.: Effects of winds and Caribbean eddies on the frequency of Loop Current eddy shedding: A numerical model study, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 108, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JC001698, 2003.
Osmond, J. and Cowart, J.: The theory and uses of natural uranium isotopic variations in hydrology, Atom. Energ. Rev., 14, 621–679, 1976.
Osmond, J. K. and Cowart, J. B.: U-Series Nuclides as Tracers in Groundwater Hydrology, in: Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology, edited by: Cook, P. G. and Herczeg, A. L., Springer, USA, 145–173, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4557-6_5, 2000.
Paces, J. B., Ludwig, K. R., Peterman, Z. E., and Neymark, L. A.: 234U/238U evidence for local recharge and patterns of ground-water flow in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA, Appl. Geochem., 17, 751–779, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00037-9, 2002.
Palmer, M. R. and Edmond, J. M.: Uranium in river water, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 57, 4947–4955, https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(93)90131-F, 1993.
Paterne, M., Druffel, E. R. M., Guilderson, T. P., Blamart, D., Moreau, C., Weil-Accardo, J., and Feuillet, N.: Pulses of South Atlantic water into the tropical North Atlantic since 1825 from coral isotopes, Sci. Adv., 9, eadi1687, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi1687, 2023.
Ren, L., Braddock, K. L., Gerard, M. W., Daniel, P. S., and Ove, H.-G.: Deconvolving the δ18O seawater component from subseasonal coral δ18O and Sr/Ca at Rarotonga in the southwestern subtropical Pacific for the period 1726 to 1997, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 67, 1609–1621, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(02)00917-1, 2003.
Richey, J. N., Poore, R. Z., Flower, B. P., Quinn, T. M., and Hollander, D. J.: Regionally coherent Little Ice Age cooling in the Atlantic Warm Pool, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040445, 2009.
Robinson, L. F., Henderson, G. M., Hall, L., and Matthews, I.: Climatic Control of Riverine and Seawater Uranium-Isotope Ratios, Science, 305, 851–854, 2004a.
Robinson, L. F., Belshaw, N. S., and Henderson, G. M.: U and Th concentrations and isotope ratios in modern carbonates and waters from the Bahamas, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 68, 1777–1789, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2003.10.005, 2004b.
Schlitzer, R.: Ocean Data View, https://odv.awi.de/ (last access: April 2026), 2025.
Scholz, D., Mangini, A., and Felis, T.: U-series dating of diagenetically altered fossil reef corals, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 218, 163–178, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00647-2, 2004.
Schorndorf, N., Frank, N., Ritter, S. M., Warken, S. F., Scholz, C., Keppler, F., Scholz, D., Weber, M., Aviles Olguin, J., and Stinnesbeck, W.: Mid- to late Holocene sea-level rise recorded in Hells Bells 234U
Smith, J. M., Quinn, T. M., Helmle, K. P., and Halley, R. B.: Reproducibility of geochemical and climatic signals in the Atlantic coral Montastraea faveolata, Paleoceanography, 21, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005PA001187, 2006.
Suksi, J., Rasilainen, K., and Pitkänen, P.: Variations in 234U
Swarzenski, P., Campbell, P., Porcelli, D., and McKee, B.: The estuarine chemistry and isotope systematics of 234,238U in the Amazon and Fly Rivers, Cont. Shelf Res., 24, 2357–2372, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2004.07.025, 2004.
Swarzenski, P. W. and Baskaran, M.: Uranium distribution in the coastal waters and pore waters of Tampa Bay, Florida, Mar. Chem., 104, 43–57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2006.05.002, 2007.
Terry, J. P. and Kim, I.-H.: Morphometric analysis of tropical storm and hurricane tracks in the North Atlantic basin using a sinuosity-based approach, Int. J. Climatol., 35, 923–934, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.4027, 2015.
Thompson, W. G., Spiegelman, M. W., Goldstein, S. L., and Speed, R. C.: An open-system model for U-series age determinations of fossil corals, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 210, 365–381, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00121-3, 2003.
Viau, A. E., Gajewski, K., Sawada, M. C., and Fines, P.: Millennial-scale temperature variations in North America during the Holocene, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006031, 2006.
Villemant, B. and Feuillet, N.: Dating open systems by the 238U–234U–230Th method: application to Quaternary reef terraces, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 210, 105–118, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00100-6, 2003.
Vorosmarty, C. J., Fekete, B. M., and Tucker, B. A.: Global River Discharge, 1807–1991, V[ersion]. 1.1 (RivDIS), ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center, https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/199, 1998.
Vose, R. S., Schmoyer, R. L., Steurer, P., Peterson, T. C., Heim, R., Karl, T. R., and Eischeid, J. K.: The Global Historical Climatology Network: Long-term monthly temperature, precipitation, sea level pressure, and station pressure data, Publication No. 3912, Environmental Sciek_ces Division, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/global-historical-climatology-network-monthly (last access: April 2025), 1992.
Wang, C. and Enfield, D. B.: The Tropical Western Hemisphere Warm Pool, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 1635–1638, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011763, 2001.
Wang, C., Lee, S.-K., and Enfield, D. B.: Climate Response to Anomalously Large and Small Atlantic Warm Pools during the Summer, J. Climate, 21, 2437–2450, https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JCLI2029.1, 2008.
Wang, L., Ma, Z., Sun, Z., Wang, Y., Wang, X., Cheng, H., and Xiao, J.: U concentration and 234U/238U of seawater from the Okinawa Trough and Indian Ocean using MC-ICPMS with SEM protocols, Mar. Chem., 196, 71–80, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2017.08.001, 2017.
Wefing, A.-M., Arps, J., Blaser, P., Wienberg, C., Hebbeln, D., and Frank, N.: High precision U-series dating of scleractinian cold-water corals using an automated chromatographic U and Th extraction, Chem. Geol., 475, 140–148, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.10.036, 2017.
Winter, A., Ishioroshi, H., Watanabe, T., Oba, T., and Christy, J.: Caribbean sea surface temperatures: Two-to-three degrees cooler than present during the Little Ice Age, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 3365–3368, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011426, 2000.
Zhang, T., Jiang, X., Liu, Q., Shang, T., Zhong, X., and Meng, C.: Changes of active particulate uranium under the Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme in the lower Yellow River: Potential impact to the uranium flux into the global ocean, Mar. Pollut. Bull., 192, 115014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115014, 2023.
Zhou, J., Du, J., Moore, W. S., Qu, J., and Zhang, G.: Concentrations and fluxes of uranium in two major Chinese rivers: The Changjiang River and the Huanghe River, Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 152, 56–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2014.11.004, 2015.
Short summary
We studied uranium isotopes in a 237-year-old coral from Cuba to understand how freshwater influences the ocean. The coral’s mostly stable uranium values vary with regional rainfall. During the late 1700s, variability increased sharply, revealing stronger distant river uranium input or changes in local terrestrial uranium sources. These findings show that corals Uranium ratios record past climate and ocean changes with high precision.
We studied uranium isotopes in a 237-year-old coral from Cuba to understand how freshwater...
