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Titel |
Do stable oxygen isotope series from Pinus sylvestris growing in Scotland retain information on precipitation dynamics? |
VerfasserIn |
Ewan Woodley, Neil Loader, Danny McCarroll, Iain Robertson, Timothy Heaton |
Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
Englisch
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Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
Datensatznummer |
250043968
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Zusammenfassung |
In order to better constrain climate predictions it is essential to reduce error in climate
reconstructions and understand how climate behaves at different temporal frequencies. Few
high-resolution climate reconstructions exist for Britain, despite the strong influence of the
North Atlantic on this temperate maritime zone. Annually-resolved stable oxygen isotope
series from Pinus sylvestris L. growing at Southern Glens (western Highlands of Scotland)
may provide information on precipitation dynamics in northern Britain. A significant
correlation (r = 0.68; P< 0.01) exists between δ18O cellulose (Southern Glens) and mean
June-July δ18O precipitation (Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation GNIP) from
Wallingford, Oxfordshire (AD 1982-2003). Whilst acknowledging the limited length of the
GNIP dataset, the strength of the correlation suggests that between AD 1982 and 2003 both
Southern Glens and Wallingford were subjected to the same June-July low pressure
systems (depressions) as they passed over Britain from west to east. These data
indicate that despite evaporative enrichment in the leaf, a significant proportion
of variance in δ18O precipitation (R2 = 0.45) may be retained in the cellulose of
Pinus sylvestris growing at Southern Glens. Such a relationship demonstrates the
potential for reconstructing the δ18O of precipitation at this site, possibly providing
information on past variability in air mass dominance and precipitation dynamics in the
region. |
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