“…In oceanic settings where the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater is constant, coral skeletal O records SST variability, usually according to the standard paleotemperature relationship for carbonates (Epstein et al, 1953). The isotopic composition is o!set by a biological non-equilibrium component that appears to be stable through time, as long as a consistent, maximum growth axis is sampled within a coral colony (Weber and Woodhead, 1972;Dunbar and Wellington, 1981; Winter et al, 1991;Shen et al, 1992;Gagan et al, 1994;Leder et al, 1996;Swart et al, 1996;Wellington et al, 1996;Cohen and Hart, 1997). When seawater O varies in response to changes in the balance between precipitation, evaporation, and water advection, the coral O changes accordingly (Swart and Coleman, 1980;Dunbar and Wellington, 1981;Cole et al, 1993;Gagan et al, 1994;Linsley et al, 1994).…”