Snapshots of mid-to-late Holocene sea-surface temperature variability from a subtropical western Atlantic coral reef

Large-scale Holocene climate reconstructions rely heavily on extratropical proxy records. Coral-based temperature reconstructions from the tropical and subtropical oceans therefore fill a critical spatial and temporal data gap, allowing for reconstruction of seasonally resolved temperature variability. We present five new, monthly-resolved sea-surface temperature (SST) reconstructions (between 39 and 57 years in length) from 2 to 7 thousand years ago (ka) based on the strontium-to‑calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) of Orbicella faveolata corals from subtropical reefs in south Florida. Modern calibrations between O. faveolata Sr/Ca and in situ SST from the region allow us to directly compare the mean and variability of SSTs since the mid-Holocene. In contrast to the low climate variability observed in more tropical areas of the western Atlantic during the Holocene, our records from subtropical south Florida exhibit pronounced changes in mean SST and variability. Our records suggest that mid-Holocene SSTs in the Florida Keys were highly variable, with relatively cooler winters driving a cooler mean SST at ∼6.7 ka (23.7 ± 0.6°C at 6.7 ka and 25.0 ± 0.5°C at 6.6 ka), and relatively warmer summers and more variable temperatures by 5.8 ka (27.1 ± 0.4°C, seasonality of 8.7°C). We also analyzed stable oxygen isotopes in two of our corals and those data support our Sr/Ca-based estimate of climatic warming between 6.6 ka and 5.8 ka (−3.6‰ and − 3.9‰). Both winter and summer temperatures were significantly cooler than the other mid-to-late Holocene snapshots at 3.6 ka (21.2 ± 0.5°C) and SST warmed but remained highly variable at 2.6 ka (25.0 ± 0.6°C, seasonality of 7.9°C). These centennial-scale changes in climate variability potentially contributed to the regional shutdown of reef accretion by the late Holocene. Our reconstructions provide a proof-of-concept study that highlights the value of coral-based SST records from highly sensitive, subtropical locations for understanding Holocene climate on seasonal to centennial timescales.