Environmental information in the isotopic record in trees

Epstein, Samuel; Krishnamurthy, Ramanarayanan; Oeschger, H.; Eddy, John A.; Pecker, Jean‐Claude

doi:10.1098/rsta.1990.0023

Cited by 81 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…We note that more than half of these isotopic time series go back to the earlier part of 19th or into the 18th century when the anthropogenic CO2 contributed little to the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere (Houghton et al, 1990). This implies that the inferred warming in the 19th century might have been caused by natural forcing rather than by anthropogenic greenhouse gases (Epstein and Krishnamurthy, 1990).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the source water is predominantly meteoric in origin, and the meteoric water is systematically related to climate, mainly temperature, the ~D values of trees may be used as a proxy indicator of the change of climatic temperature (White et al, 1994;Epstein, 1977, 1982;Edwards and Fritz, 1986;Epstein and Krishnamurthy, 1990). The higher the ~D in tree rings, the higher the climatic temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climatic trends from isotopic records of tree rings: The past 100?200 years

Feng

Epstein

1996

Climatic Change

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There has been a great deal of discussion about global warming from accumulation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Houghton et al., 1990). Relatively less attention has been paid to spatial and]or temporal climatic variations that may be associated with a warmer climate (Rind et al., 1989) or with anthropogenic activities (Schneider, 1994). In this article, we show that an increase in climatic variability may have started. Fourteen isotopic time series of tree rings are presented. These trees were randomly collected from world-wide locations and cover time periods of 120 to over 200 years. The isotopic records show increasing 6D values that suggest a consistent and progressive warming occurred in the 19th century in all locations where the trees were sampled. The rate of warming is greater at relatively cold locations than at warm locations with two exceptions. The records also suggest greater climatic variations both temporally and spatially in the 20th century than in the 19th century.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic trends from isotopic records of tree rings: The past 100?200 years

Feng

Epstein

1996

Climatic Change

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“…Many studies (Schiegl 1974;Gray and Thompson 1976;Epstein and Krishnamurthy 1990) utilized correlations of the measured or assumed plant water source and local weather records with the isotopic composition of cellulose in the corresponding annual growth ring to investigate the environmental information contained in tree rings. Interpretation of such data is constrained by the assumptions made and the choice of environmental information to be included in the analysis.…”

Section: Differences In Experimental Design Between Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of tree-ring cellulose for riparian trees grown long-term under hydroponically controlled environments

1999

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Saplings of three riparian tree species (alder, birch and cottonwood) were grown for over 5 months in a hydroponics system that maintained the isotopic composition of source water in six treatments, ranging from -120 to +180‰δD and -15 to +10‰δO. The trees were grown in two greenhouses maintained at 25°C and at either 40 or 75% relative humidity, creating differences in transpiration rates and leaf water isotopic evaporative enrichment. The cellulose produced in the annual growth ring was linearly related to source water with differences in both slope and offset associated with greenhouse humidity. The slope of the isotopic composition of source water versus tree-ring cellulose was less than 1 for both δD and δO indicating incomplete isotopic exchange of carbohydrate substrate with xylem water during cellulose synthesis. Tests using the outer portion of the tree-ring and new roots were similar and showed that the tree-ring values were representative of the cellulose laid down under the imposed environmental conditions. The fraction of H and O in carbohydrate substrate that isotopically exchange with medium water was calculated to be 0.36 and 0.42 respectively, and biochemical mechanisms for these observed fractions are discussed. A mechanistic model of the biochemical fractionation events for both δD and δO leading to cellulose synthesis was robust over the wide range of cellulose stable isotope ratios. The experimental results indicate that both water source and humidity information are indeed recorded in tree-ring cellulose. These results help to resolve some of the disparate observations regarding the interpretation of stable isotope ratios in tree-rings found in the literature.

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“…Studies of ring-width _LaMarche, 1974;Baillie, 1988., ring-colour _Filion et al, 1986., isotopic ratio _Epstein and Krishnamurthy, 1990., damaged annual rings _LaMarche and Hirschboek, 1984.and late and early-wood density _Conkey, 1986; Graumlich and Brubaker, 1986;Briffa et al, 1988aBriffa et al, ,b, 1990Scuderi, 1990., allow the reconstruction of the macro and micro environmental influences on a tree's location. The longevity of particular tree species, the survival of others in fossil form and their wide latitudinal and geographical distribution, permits the reconstruction of climatic change _LaMarche, 1974; Fritts et al, 1979Fritts et al, , 1981.…”

Section: Dendrochronological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Volcanoes as agents of past environmental change

Sadler

Grattan

1999

Global and Planetary Change

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In recent years a sequence of papers has discussed the impact of volcanic eruptions upon global environments. Emphasis has been placed upon their potential role in depressing hemispheric temperatures and affecting global weather patterns. Many researchers have related ecological, environmental and historical phenomena to individual eruptions. However, the linking of spatially and temporally disparate phenomenon to eruption chronologies involves several levels of supposition and at each level in the argument greater potential for error arises. This paper examines critically a number of important issues that arise from these studies. How valid are the linkages that are drawn? Do they establish a dependent relationship or merely coincidence? The validity of linking volcanic activity with disparate spatial and temporal events in the climatic, historical and palaeoecological records is addressed. There can be little doubt that volcanoes have a great effect on proximal climates and environments, but their global impact is less well understood. The scale and magnitude of responses to large eruptions such as the historically notorious Tambora_1815.and Mt. Pinatubo_1991.is far from consistent. This paper urges the adoption of a more critical perspective when considering these issues.

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Environmental information in the isotopic record in trees

Cited by 81 publications

References 11 publications

Climatic trends from isotopic records of tree rings: The past 100?200 years

Climatic trends from isotopic records of tree rings: The past 100?200 years

Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios of tree-ring cellulose for riparian trees grown long-term under hydroponically controlled environments

Volcanoes as agents of past environmental change

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