A 1119-year tree-ring-width chronology from western Prince William Sound, southern Alaska

Living and subfossil trees from glacier forefields are used to develop a 1119-year-long tree-ringwidth chronology. Strong cross-dating among ring-width series from sites up to 60 km apart and an analysis of sample homogeneity support combination of all samples into a single, regional composite chron...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Holocene
Main Authors: Barclay, David J., Wiles, Gregory C., Calkin, Parker E.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 1999
Subjects:
Paleontology
Earth-Surface Processes
Ecology
Archeology
Global and Planetary Change
glacier
Alaska
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/095968399672825976
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/095968399672825976
Description
Summary:Living and subfossil trees from glacier forefields are used to develop a 1119-year-long tree-ringwidth chronology. Strong cross-dating among ring-width series from sites up to 60 km apart and an analysis of sample homogeneity support combination of all samples into a single, regional composite chronology. Comparison with instrumental climate data indicates May through July temperatures of the growth year are the primary control on ring-widths. Multidecadal-length warm periods in western Prince William Sound during the past 800 years were centred on AD 1300, 1440 and possibly 1820. Multidecadal-length cool periods were centred on AD 1400, 1660 and 1870. This is the first tree-ring chronology from the Gulf of Alaska region to extend into the first millennium AD.

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