TY - JOUR
T1 - Precipitation in Northeast Mexico Primarily Controlled by the Relative Warming of Atlantic SSTs
AU - Wright, Kevin T.
AU - Johnson, Kathleen R.
AU - Bhattacharya, Tripti
AU - Marks, Gabriela Serrato
AU - McGee, David
AU - Elsbury, Dillon
AU - Peings, Yannick
AU - Lacaille-Muzquiz, Jean Louis
AU - Lum, Gianna
AU - Beramendi-Orosco, Laura
AU - Magnusdottir, Gudrun
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Cheva Berrones‐Benitez for her assistance with rainfall sampling. We thank Jim Kennedy, Esteban Berrones, Corinne Wong, and Chris Wood for their help with fieldwork. We thank Dachun Zhang, Jessica Wang, Chris Wood, and Elizabeth Patterson for assistance with lab work. We thank Crystal Tulley‐Cordova for sharing the precipitation collector design. This research was supported by a UC MEXUS‐CONACYT Collaborative Grant from the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS CN‐16‐120), an MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives Mexico Program, and National Science Foundation awards AGS‐1804512 and AGS‐1806090. K. R. Johnson., D. McGee., K. T. Wright, and L. Beramendi‐Orosco designed the study; K. T. Wright, G. S. Marks, K. R. Johnson, and J.‐L. Lacaille Muzquiz conducted fieldwork; K. T. Wright, G. S. Marks, G.R.G., and G. Lum conducted laboratory analyses; K. T. Wright and D. Elsbury conducted paleoclimate model simulations; K. T. Wright, D. Elsbury, Y. Peings and G. Magnusdottir analyzed model data; K. T. Wright and K. R. Johnson wrote the manuscript with help from coauthors. All authors contributed to data analysis and interpretation.
Funding Information:
We thank Cheva Berrones-Benitez for her assistance with rainfall sampling. We thank Jim Kennedy, Esteban Berrones, Corinne Wong, and Chris Wood for their help with fieldwork. We thank Dachun Zhang, Jessica Wang, Chris Wood, and Elizabeth Patterson for assistance with lab work. We thank Crystal Tulley-Cordova for sharing the precipitation collector design. This research was supported by a UC MEXUS-CONACYT Collaborative Grant from the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS CN-16-120), an MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives Mexico Program, and National Science Foundation awards AGS-1804512 and AGS-1806090. K. R. Johnson., D. McGee., K. T. Wright, and L. Beramendi-Orosco designed the study; K. T. Wright, G. S. Marks, K. R. Johnson, and J.-L. Lacaille Muzquiz conducted fieldwork; K. T. Wright, G. S. Marks, G.R.G., and G. Lum conducted laboratory analyses; K. T. Wright and D. Elsbury conducted paleoclimate model simulations; K. T. Wright, D. Elsbury, Y. Peings and G. Magnusdottir analyzed model data; K. T. Wright and K. R. Johnson wrote the manuscript with help from coauthors. All authors contributed to data analysis and interpretation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2022/6/16
Y1 - 2022/6/16
N2 - Reconstructing hydroclimate over the Common Era is essential for understanding the dominant mechanisms of precipitation change and improving climate model projections, which currently suggest Northeast Mexico will become drier in the future. Tree-ring reconstructions have suggested regional rainfall is primarily controlled by Pacific sea-surface temperatures (SSTs). However, tree ring records tend to reflect winter-spring rainfall, and thus may not accurately record total annual precipitation. Using the first multiproxy speleothem record spanning the last millennium, combined with results from an atmospheric general circulation model, we demonstrate mean annual rainfall in Northeast Mexico is highly sensitive to Atlantic SST variability. Our findings suggest future precipitation in Northeast Mexico is more dependent upon the warming of Tropical Atlantic SSTs relative to the Tropical Pacific.
AB - Reconstructing hydroclimate over the Common Era is essential for understanding the dominant mechanisms of precipitation change and improving climate model projections, which currently suggest Northeast Mexico will become drier in the future. Tree-ring reconstructions have suggested regional rainfall is primarily controlled by Pacific sea-surface temperatures (SSTs). However, tree ring records tend to reflect winter-spring rainfall, and thus may not accurately record total annual precipitation. Using the first multiproxy speleothem record spanning the last millennium, combined with results from an atmospheric general circulation model, we demonstrate mean annual rainfall in Northeast Mexico is highly sensitive to Atlantic SST variability. Our findings suggest future precipitation in Northeast Mexico is more dependent upon the warming of Tropical Atlantic SSTs relative to the Tropical Pacific.
KW - Common Era
KW - Mexico
KW - paleoclimate
KW - precipitation
KW - speleothem
KW - stable isotopes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85132073153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85132073153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2022GL098186
DO - 10.1029/2022GL098186
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85132073153
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 49
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 11
M1 - e2022GL098186
ER -