Influence of atmospheric circulation patterns on the oxygen isotope ratio of tree rings in the Alpine region

Saurer, Matthias; Kress, Anne; Leuenberger, Markus; Rinne, Katja T.; Treydte, Kerstin; Siegwolf, Rolf

doi:10.1029/2011jd016861

Cited by 57 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Because of the changes in moisture sources, the intraseasonal variability of precipitation is relatively high, especially on the southern side where a mixture of sources originating from the North Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean region, the North Sea and Baltic Sea as well as from European land surface re-evaporation contribute to the total annual precipitation of a specific site (Sodemann and Zubler, 2009) and may thus significantly affect the δ 18 O signal. Such an influence of changes in large-scale circulation patterns was observed in Alpine tree rings (Saurer et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Temperature and precipitation signal in two Alpine ice cores over the period 1961–2001

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Water stable isotope ratios and net snow accumulation in ice cores are commonly interpreted as temperature or precipitation proxies. However, only in a few cases has a direct calibration with instrumental data been attempted. In this study we took advantage of the dense network of observations in the European Alpine region to rigorously test the relationship of the annual and seasonal resolved proxy data from two highly resolved ice cores with local temperature and precipitation. We focused on the time period 1961-2001 with the highest amount and quality of meteorological data and the minimal uncertainty in ice core dating (±1 year). The two ice cores were retrieved from the Fiescherhorn glacier (northern Alps, 3900 m a.s.l.), and Grenzgletscher (southern Alps, 4200 m a.s.l.). A parallel core from the Fiescherhorn glacier allowed assessing the reproducibility of the ice core proxy data. Due to the orographic barrier, the two flanks of the Alpine chain are affected by distinct patterns of precipitation. The different location of the two glaciers therefore offers a unique opportunity to test whether such a specific setting is reflected in the proxy data. On a seasonal scale a high fraction of δ 18 O variability was explained by the seasonal cycle of temperature (∼ 60 % for the ice cores, ∼ 70 % for the nearby stations of the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation -GNIP). When the seasonality is removed, the correlations decrease for all sites, indicating that factors other than temperature such as changing moisture sources and/or precipitation regimes affect the isotopic signal on this timescale. Post-depositional phenomena may additionally modify the ice core data. On an annual scale, the δ 18 O/temperature relationship was significant at the Fiescherhorn, whereas for Grenzgletscher this was the case only when weighting the temperature with precipitation. In both cases the fraction of interannual temperature variability explained was ∼ 20 %, comparable to the values obtained from the GNIP stations data. Consistently with previous studies, we found an altitude effect for the δ 18 O of −0.17 ‰/100 m for an extended elevation range combining data of the two ice core sites and four GNIP stations. Significant correlations between net accumulation and precipitation were observed for Grenzgletscher during the entire period of investigation, whereas for Fiescherhorn this was the case only for the less recent period

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Temperature and precipitation signal in two Alpine ice cores over the period 1961–2001

et al. 2014

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“…In light of these concerns, Porter et al (2009) Edwards et al 1996Edwards et al , 2008 Birks and Edwards 2009; Liu et al 2011;Saurer et al 2012) important to test the relation over a period that experienced a wide range of circulation patterns.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Hatch Stable Isotope Tukey's bi-weight robust mean is commonly used in dendrochronology research when 13 combining independent tree-ring series into a mean chronology if sample size is greater than six,…”

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Spring-summer temperatures since AD 1780 reconstructed from stable oxygen isotope ratios in white spruce tree-rings from the Mackenzie Delta, northwestern Canada

et al. 2013

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HOW TO CITE TSPACE ITEMSAlways cite the published version, so the author(s) will receive recognition through services that track citation counts, e.g. Scopus. If you need to cite the page number of the TSpace version (original manuscript or accepted manuscript) because you cannot access the published version, then cite the TSpace version in addition to the published version using the permanent URI (handle) found on the record page. and the duration and spatial-density of these records decrease poleward (Lawrimore et al. 2011). 3Improved spatiotemporal coverage of climate data is needed to better characterise the high 4 latitude climate system, assess its sensitivity to pre-industrial forcings, and provide initialisation 5 and verification datasets for climate models used to forecast climate changes and associated 6 impacts. In place of missing instrumental data, natural proxies can be used to fill gaps in the 7 global climate observing network (Jones et al. 2009; Bradley 2011). 8Tree-ring chronologies are especially useful because they are annually-resolved and, thus, 2008). This issue has raised concerns over the ability to use affected ring-width chronologies for 19 past climate reconstructions (Jansen et al. 2007). 20In light of these concerns, Porter et al. (2009) Edwards et al. 1996Edwards et al. , 2008 Birks and Edwards 2009; Liu et al. 2011;Saurer et al. 2012) important to test the relation over a period that experienced a wide range of circulation patterns. 22Here, we evaluate the relation using a newly compiled regional temperature record, derived from 14 Growth patterns of the selected cores were first visually cross-dated, measured using a 15Velmex tree-ring measuring system, and verified against the Timber master tree-ring chronology samples were processed using a Jayme-Wise-type α-cellulose extraction method as described by Tukey's bi-weight robust mean is commonly used in dendrochronology research when 13 combining independent tree-ring series into a mean chronology if sample size is greater than six, 14and the median function is used when sample size is less than or equal to six (Cook 1985). Both 15 measures of central tendency help to guard against outlier data points that can strongly affect the 16 mean chronology when sample size is low. Here, sample size is always less than or equal to six, 17and so the median function is used to calculate the master Timber δ 18 O chronology. 18The EPS statistic (Wigley et al. 1984) was used to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio of the 19 mean δ 18 O chronology:where rbar is the mean inter-series correlation between all trees over a given window length, and 22N is the number of series involved in the calculation. The EPS calculation used here is based on a 15Predicted and local-20CR temperatures are well matched from AD 1871-2003 (Fig. 3). 16This coherence is especially strong at lower-frequencies (e.g., r = 0. since AD 1780 (Fig. 3). The reconstruction is discussed in the following section. According to the reconstruction, April-July minimum temperatu...

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“…In the North American monsoon region, for instance, earlywood width reflects winter-spring precipitation, while latewood width can more strongly reflect the summer rains associated with the monsoon (Meko and Baisan, 2001;Stahle et al, 2009;Griffin et al, 2013). Stable carbon and isotope chronologies are less common than ring width or wood density series, but can reflect a host of hydroclimatic processes, including drought (Treydte et al, 2007;AndreuHayles et al, 2016), cloud cover (Young et al, 2010;Gagen et al, 2011b), relative humidity (Edwards and Fritz, 1986;Anchukaitis and Evans, 2010), rainfall amount (Evans and Schrag, 2004), snow (Treydte et al, 2006), vapor pressure (Voelker et al, 2014), and moisture source and atmospheric circulation (Saurer et al, 2012;Williams et al, 2012).…”

Section: Tree Ringsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing proxy and model estimates of hydroclimate variability and change over the Common Era

Smerdon¹,

Luterbacher²,

Phipps³

et al. 2017

Clim. Past

101

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Abstract. Water availability is fundamental to societies and ecosystems, but our understanding of variations in hydroclimate (including extreme events, flooding, and decadal periods of drought) is limited because of a paucity of modern instrumental observations that are distributed unevenly across the globe and only span parts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Such data coverage is insufficient for characterizing hydroclimate and its associated dynamics because of its multidecadal to centennial variability and highly regionalized spatial signature. High-resolution (seasonal to decadal) hydroclimatic proxies that span all or parts of the Common Era (CE) and paleoclimate simulations from climate models are therefore important tools for augmenting our understanding of hydroclimate variability. In particular, the comparison of the two sources of information is critical for addressing the uncertainties and limitations of both while enriching each of their interpretations. We review the principal proxy data available for hydroclimatic reconstructions over the CE and highlight the contemporary understanding of how these proxies are interpreted as hydroclimate indicators. We also review the available last-millennium simulations from fully coupled climate models and discuss several outstanding challenges associated with simulating hydroclimate variability and change over the CE. A specific review of simulated hydroclimatic changes forced by volcanic events is provided, as is a discussion of expected improvements in estimated radiative forcings, models, and their implementation in the future. Our review of hydroclimatic proxies and last-millennium model simulations is used as the basis for articulating a variety of considerations and best practices for how to perform proxy-model comparisons of CE hydroclimate. This discussion provides a framework for how best to evaluate hydroclimate variability and its associated dynamics using these comparisons and how they can better inform interpretations of both proxy data and model simulations. We subsequently explore means of using proxy-model comparisons to better constrain and characterize future hydroclimate risks. This is explored specifically in the context of several examples that demonstrate how proxy-model comparisons can be used to quantitatively constrain future hydroclimatic risks as estimated from climate model projections.

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Influence of atmospheric circulation patterns on the oxygen isotope ratio of tree rings in the Alpine region

Cited by 57 publications

References 62 publications

Temperature and precipitation signal in two Alpine ice cores over the period 1961–2001

Temperature and precipitation signal in two Alpine ice cores over the period 1961–2001

Spring-summer temperatures since AD 1780 reconstructed from stable oxygen isotope ratios in white spruce tree-rings from the Mackenzie Delta, northwestern Canada

Comparing proxy and model estimates of hydroclimate variability and change over the Common Era

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