A 180-year-long isotopic record of tree-ring cellulose on Okinawa Island, Japan

Ryu Uemura*, Miki Uemura, Masaki Sano, Takeshi Nakatsuka

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The oxygen isotope ratio (d 18 O) of tree-ring cellulose provides a valuable climatic record with an annual timescale. In Japan, the cellulose d 18 O records have been accumulated over the past decade. However, no long-term records have been reported for the southern subtropical island, Okinawa-jima, where many long-lived trees were burned during the Second World War and have been periodically damaged by typhoons. Here, we show a cellulose d 18 O of Ryukyu Pine (Pinus luchuensis Mayr.) from the Okinawa-jima island. This d 18 O data, which was obtained from a tree-disk preserved in a University Museum, cover a 95-year period before meteorological observation began on this island in 1891. The cellulose d 18 O variations negatively correlate with the amount of precipitation during the rainy season, suggesting that the cellulose d 18 O values are largely affected by d 18 O of rainwater rather than large scale ENSO variations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)E21-E27
JournalGEOCHEMICAL JOURNAL
Volume52
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Monsoon
  • Okinawa
  • Oxygen isotope
  • Paleo climate
  • Tree-ring

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

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