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A Single-Year δ13C Chronology from Pinus Tabulaeformis (Chinese Pine) Tree Rings at Huangling, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Steven W. Leavitt
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Liu Yu
Affiliation:
National Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Xian 710061 China
Malcolm K. Hughes
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Liu Rongmo
Affiliation:
National Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Xian 710061 China
An Zhisheng
Affiliation:
National Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Xian 710061 China
Graciela M. Gutierrez
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Shelley R. Danzer
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Shao Xuemei
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, Academia Sinica, P.O. Box 771, Beijing 100101 China
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Abstract

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Individual rings from 1899–1990 were pooled from four radii of four cross-sections obtained from trees at a managed forest site near Huangling, north of Xian in north central China. Splits of wood ground to 20-mesh were analyzed independently at both the Xian and Arizona laboratories, using their respective methods for cellulose isolation, combustion and mass-spectrometric analysis. The δ13C results were highly correlated (r2 = 0.66) and absolute values typically within 0.2–0.3‰. Inter-tree variability was estimated as 1–1.5‰. The Huangling δ13C curve shows an overall downward trend with year-to-year fluctuations of up to 1.5‰ superimposed. A subset of δ13C maxima corresponded with below-normal precipitation and above-normal temperature in May and June, and minima were associated with above-normal precipitation and below-normal temperature in May and June, perhaps signaling early arrival of the East Asian Summer Monsoon. The generally poor climate correlations with all δ13C values, however, could be a consequence of the fairly mesic environment or of human disturbance. Chronologies of isotopic discrimination (δ) and Ci/Ca had flat slopes, suggesting the δ13C trend was driven by global rather than local effects.

Type
IV. 14C as a Tracer of the Dynamic Carbon Cycle in the Current Environment
Copyright
Copyright © the Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona 

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