Tree-ring and summer-temperature response to volcanic aerosol forcing at the northern tree-line, Kola Peninsula, Russia

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Gervais, Bruce R., MacDonald, Glen M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2001
• Subjects: Paleontology; Earth-Surface Processes; Ecology; Archeology; Global and Planetary Change; Arctic; Greenland; Kola Peninsula; Greenland Ice Sheet Project; Ice Sheet; kola peninsula
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/095968301678302940; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/095968301678302940

Potential linkages between volcanic activity and a 403-year record of Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) growth and summer temperatures estimated from tree-ring widths are evaluated from an Arctic tree-line site on the Kola Peninsula, northwestern Russia. The joint occurrence of volcanic eruptions and severe negative ring-width values is more than four times that expected by chance. A composite average of temperatures indicates that a 0.72°C temperature reduction is typical for the year immediately following volcanic eruptions, while tree growth is reduced for up to two decades. The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) volcanic sulphate record shows a small but significant correlation with summer temperatures. Volcanic aerosols originating at low and middle latitudes appear to cause the greatest ring-width reduction and cooling.