Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-tsvsl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T16:16:45.169Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Oxygen Isotope Ratios from Tree Rings Containing Compression Wood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Brian Luckman
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5C2
John Gray
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2T1

Abstract

Oxygen isotope determinations on the α-cellulose of tree rings cut from two leaning Picea engelmannii revealed significant differences between results from normal and compression wood radii. Nine samples (10-year periods) from the normal wood radius (1721–1953) in one tree showed good agreement with proxy climate information and maximum differences of 1.8‰ between the “warmest” and “coolest” decades sampled. Differences of equivalent magnitude were found between samples from the same decade from normal and compression wood radii. These differences are strongly related to the amount and/or density of compression wood present and suggest that sampling for paleoclimatic work should be restricted to complacent, erect trees without compression wood rings.

Type
Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brenninkmeijer, C. A. M. Deuterium, Oxygen-18 and Carbon-13 in Tree Rings and Peat Deposits in Relation to Climate. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1983 University of Groningen Google Scholar
Epstein, S. Yapp, C. Climatic implications of the D/H ratio of hydrogen in C-H groups in tree cellulose. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 30 1976 252 261 Google Scholar
Fritts, H. C. Tree Rings and Climate, 1976 Academic Press New York Google Scholar
Gray, J. Thompson, P. Climatic information from 18O/16O ratios of cellulose in tree rings. Nature (London), 262 1976 481 482 Google Scholar
Gray, J. Thompson, P. Climatic interpretation of δ18O and δD in tree rings (Reply to Wigley et al.). Nature (London), 271 1978 93 94 Google Scholar
Green, J. W. Nitration with a mixture of nitric and phosphoric acids.Whistler, R. L. Methods in Carbohydrate Chemistry, Vol. 3 1963 Academic Press London Google Scholar
Heusser, C. J. Postglacial environments in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Ecological Monographs, 36 1956 263 302 Google Scholar
Luckman, B. H. Reconstruction of Little Ice Age events in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Geographie Physique et Quaternaire, 40 1986 17 28 Google Scholar
Luckman, B. H. Dating the moraines and recession of Athabasca and Dome Glaciers, Alberta, Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research, 20 1988 40 54 Google Scholar
Luckman, B. H. Hamilton, J. P. Jozsa, L. A. Gray, J. Proxy climatic data from tree rings at Lake Louise, Alberta: A preliminary report. Geographie Physique et Quaternaire, 39 1985 127 140 Google Scholar
Luckman, B. H. Kearney, M. S. Reconstruction of Holocene changes in alpine vegetation and climate in the Maligne Range, Jasper National Park, Alberta. Quaternary Research, 26 1986 244 261 Google Scholar
Parker, M. L. Bruce, R. D. Jozsa, L. A. X-Ray Densitometry of Wood at the W.F.P.L., 1980 Forintek Canada Corp Vancouver, B.C Technical Report 10 Google Scholar
Shroder, J. F. Jr. Dendrogeomorphology: Review and new techniques of tree-ring dating. Progress in Physical Geography, 4 1980 161 188 Google Scholar
Thompson, P. Gray, J. Determination of 18O/16O ratios in compounds containing C, H and O. International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 28 1977 411 415 Google Scholar
Westing, A. H. Formation and function of compression wood in gymnosperms 1. Botanical Review, 34 1965 381 480 Google Scholar
Wigley, T. M. L. Gray, B. M. Kelly, P. M. Climatic interpretation of δ18O and δD in tree rings. Nature (London), 271 1978 92 93 Google Scholar