USING MONTASTRAEA FAVEOLATA AS PROXY FOR CARIBBEAN SST DURING THE HOLOCENE, ENRIQUILLO LAKE, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Montastraea faveolata coral skeletons collected form Enriquillo Lake in the Dominican Republic are used as proxies to determine Caribbean Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) during the Holocene. The coral facies from which the samples were obtained has been dated at ~8,000 yB.P. (Th/U) (Cuevas et al., 2005). SST are calculated by measuring d¹⁸O values. Results could indicate a decrease in salinity or increase in SST or both. Results are compared to previous studies on Caribbean SST that have been used to research Holocene climactic events and thermohaline circulations (Lachniet, 2004).