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Updated: Dec 25, 2025
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Data Processing Methods for 3D Seismic Imaging of Subsurface Volcanoes: Applications to the Tarim Flood Basalt
Published on: August 7, 2017
9.8K
No consistent ENSO response to volcanic forcing over the last millennium
Sylvia G Dee1, Kim M Cobb2, Julien Emile-Geay3
1Rice University, Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Houston, TX 77005, USA. sylvia.dee@rice.edu.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 29, 2020
Summary
This study found that large volcanic eruptions have a weak, insignificant impact on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Climate models may overestimate ENSO's sensitivity to volcanic forcing.
Area of Science:
- Paleoclimatology
- Climate Science
- Ocean-Atmosphere Dynamics
Background:
- The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) significantly influences global climate patterns.
- ENSO's sensitivity to external climate forcing, like volcanic eruptions, is not well understood.
- Previous modeling studies suggest a link between volcanic sulfate aerosols and ENSO, but observational evidence is inconclusive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of major volcanic eruptions on ENSO during the last millennium.
- To provide observational data to validate climate model predictions of ENSO's response to volcanic forcing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized absolutely dated fossil corals from the central tropical Pacific as paleoclimate archives.
- Applied superposed epoch analysis to assess ENSO's state in the year following large volcanic eruptions.
Main Results:
- A slight tendency towards an El Niño-like ENSO response was observed in the year after volcanic eruptions.
- This observed tendency was not statistically significant.
- No significant ENSO response was detected even after the exceptionally large 1257 Samalas eruption.
Conclusions:
- The study's findings suggest that the ENSO response to volcanic forcing might be weaker than predicted by some climate models.
- Observed ENSO variability may mask or be larger than the forced response to volcanic eruptions.
- Further research is needed to refine climate models and better understand the interplay between volcanism and ENSO.
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