Ocean variability drives a millennial-scale shift in South Pacific hydroclimate

Peaple, Mark, Skinner, Daniel T., Inglis, Gordon N., Joshi, Manoj, Langdon, Peter, Matthews, Adrian J., Osborn, Timothy J. and Sear, David (2025) Ocean variability drives a millennial-scale shift in South Pacific hydroclimate. Communications Earth & Environment, 6. ISSN 2662-4435

Preview

PDF (Peaple_etal_2025_CommunicationsEarthAndEnvironment) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

The South Pacific Convergence Zone is a band of intense austral summer rainfall in the tropical Pacific. Changes in the South Pacific Convergence Zone are linked to Pacific sea surface temperatures on decadal timescales, but its behaviour and impacts over longer timescales remain poorly understood due to limited proxy records and model uncertainties. We combine new plant wax hydroclimate records with existing proxy evidence and climate model simulations to investigate South Pacific Convergence Zone changes over the past 1500 years. Our findings indicate that between 1000 and 200 years ago, the eastern South Pacific Convergence Zone became wetter while the western part became drier. Model simulations suggest that these centennial-scale changes were driven by Pacific sea surface temperature gradients. This eastward shift coincides with Polynesian colonisation, implying hydroclimate shifts both ‘pushed’ migration eastward and ‘pulled’ successful eastern settlement.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability: Proxy data generated as part of this study are available via the Open Science Framework. Reanalysis SST data are from the twentieth century Reanalysis product, version. CMIP6 model data used are available via the Earth System Grid Federation. Funding information: This study was supported by NERC grant NE/W005565/1. Field work was supported by National Geographic Expedition awards NGS-58688R-19 and NGS94645R-21 to D.S. In addition, G.N.I. was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (DHF\R1\191178).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Fluids & Structures Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Aug 2025 12:30
Last Modified:	20 Aug 2025 12:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100168
DOI:	10.1038/s43247-025-02676-5

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item