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No Age Trends in Oak Stable Isotopes
Author(s) -
Büntgen Ulf,
Kolář Tomáš,
Rybníček Michal,
Koňasová Eva,
Trnka Mirek,
Ač Alexander,
Krusic Paul J.,
Esper Jan,
Treydte Kerstin,
Reinig Fredrick,
Kirdyanov Alexander,
Herzig Franz,
Urban Otmar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
paleoceanography and paleoclimatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.927
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 2572-4525
pISSN - 2572-4517
DOI - 10.1029/2019pa003831
Subject(s) - proxy (statistics) , dendrochronology , stable isotope ratio , isotope , physical geography , czech , geography , environmental science , mathematics , statistics , archaeology , nuclear physics , physics , linguistics , philosophy
Although the importance of stable isotope ratios in tree rings is increasing for high‐resolution climate reconstructions, it is still unclear if such values exhibit age trends that require some form of standardization. Here we present 13,496 and 13,584 annually resolved and absolutely dated δ 18 O and δ 13 C measurements from 147 living and relict oaks ( Quercus spp.) that grew over the past 2,000 years in the Czech Republic. In contrast to their heteroscedastic ring widths, the stable isotopes reveal constant spread versus level relationships over the trees' life span. Together with high signal strength, the absence of age‐related constraints makes δ 18 O and δ 13 C from oak latewood alpha cellulose a superior climate proxy in regions where traditional tree‐ring parameters are limited.