Oxygen Isotopes in Tree Rings from Greenland: A New Proxy of NAO

• Published in: Atmosphere
• Main Authors: Chenxi Xu, Brendan M. Buckley, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Wenling An, Zhen Li, Takeshi Nakatsuka, Zhengtang Guo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020
• Subjects: tree ring δ 18 O; ice core δ 18 O; greenland; North Atlantic Oscillation; Meteorology. Climatology; QC851-999; Greenland; greenlandic; ice core; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010039; https://doaj.org/article/1188a3a5719f461b9b032e0fe6dd5073

We present the first Greenlandic tree ring oxygen isotope record (δ 18 O GTR ), derived from four birch trees collected from the Qinguadalen Valley in southwestern Greenland in 1999. Our δ 18 O record spans from 1950–1999 and is significantly and positively correlated with winter ice core δ 18 O from southern Greenland. δ 18 O GTR records are positively correlated with southwestern Greenland January–August mean temperatures. North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reconstructions have been developed from a variety of proxies, but never with Greenlandic tree rings, and our δ 18 O GTR record is significantly correlated with NAO (r = −0.64), and spatial correlations with sea-level pressure indicate a classic NAO pressure seesaw pattern. These results may facilitate a longer NAO reconstruction based on long time series of tree ring δ 18 O records from Greenland, provided that subfossil wood can be found in areas vacated by melting glaciers.