Description
The author analyzed a sediment core retrieved from the western portion of South Bay near San Francisco International Airport (37°37.83'N, 122°21.99'W) for the presence and abundance of various foraminifers, as well as oxygen and carbon stable isotopes and numerous trace elements found in the tests of Elphidium excavatum. This work revealed, in her words, the presence of "warm and dry conditions, representative of the Medieval Warm Period," which she identified as occurring from AD 743 to 1343. Although a temperature reconstruction was provided, the uppermost core segment was considered to be "contaminated," so that no valid temperature was presented for the past century, and no comparison could be made between the level of warmth during the past two decades and the peak warmth of the MWP.