Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings

Oxygen isotope ratios from oak tree rings are used to extend the May–August precipitation totals of the England and Wales precipitation series back to 1201 CE. The agreement between instrumental and reconstructed values is unusually strong, with more than half of the variance explained and standard...

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Main Authors: Loader, NJ, Young, GHF, McCarroll, D, Davies, D, Miles, D, Bronk Ramsey, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020
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author Loader, NJ
Young, GHF
McCarroll, D
Davies, D
Miles, D
Bronk Ramsey, C
author_facet Loader, NJ
Young, GHF
McCarroll, D
Davies, D
Miles, D
Bronk Ramsey, C
author_sort Loader, NJ
collection OXFORD
description Oxygen isotope ratios from oak tree rings are used to extend the May–August precipitation totals of the England and Wales precipitation series back to 1201 CE. The agreement between instrumental and reconstructed values is unusually strong, with more than half of the variance explained and standard verification tests passed. The stability of this relationship is confirmed using split‐period calibration and verification. This allows the reconstruction to be variance‐scaled to the full length of the instrumental series back to 1766. Direct comparison with historical reports of very wet and dry summers show good agreement. Near‐constant replication, with a minimum of 10 timbers sourced from historic buildings across central southern England ensures signal strength does not change over time. Summers during the late 20th century appear anomalously dry and those of the 21st century very close to the pre‐20th century average with no evidence in the record of prolonged ‘megadroughts’ across England and Wales.
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spelling oxford-uuid:89e32d59-2fc2-4f4b-a7bb-64c17eae4b962022-03-26T22:27:37ZSummer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree ringsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:89e32d59-2fc2-4f4b-a7bb-64c17eae4b96EnglishSymplectic ElementsWiley2020Loader, NJYoung, GHFMcCarroll, DDavies, DMiles, DBronk Ramsey, COxygen isotope ratios from oak tree rings are used to extend the May–August precipitation totals of the England and Wales precipitation series back to 1201 CE. The agreement between instrumental and reconstructed values is unusually strong, with more than half of the variance explained and standard verification tests passed. The stability of this relationship is confirmed using split‐period calibration and verification. This allows the reconstruction to be variance‐scaled to the full length of the instrumental series back to 1766. Direct comparison with historical reports of very wet and dry summers show good agreement. Near‐constant replication, with a minimum of 10 timbers sourced from historic buildings across central southern England ensures signal strength does not change over time. Summers during the late 20th century appear anomalously dry and those of the 21st century very close to the pre‐20th century average with no evidence in the record of prolonged ‘megadroughts’ across England and Wales.
spellingShingle Loader, NJ
Young, GHF
McCarroll, D
Davies, D
Miles, D
Bronk Ramsey, C
Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title_full Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title_fullStr Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title_full_unstemmed Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title_short Summer precipitation for the England and Wales region, 1201–2000 CE, from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
title_sort summer precipitation for the england and wales region 1201 2000 ce from stable oxygen isotopes in oak tree rings
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AT daviesd summerprecipitationfortheenglandandwalesregion12012000cefromstableoxygenisotopesinoaktreerings
AT milesd summerprecipitationfortheenglandandwalesregion12012000cefromstableoxygenisotopesinoaktreerings
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