Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T18:41:13.976Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tree-Ring Evidence for Climatically Effective Volcanic Eruptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Louis A. Scuderi
Louis A. Scuderi*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ringwidth variations from temperature-sensitive upper timberline sites in the Sierra Nevada show a marked correspondence to the decadal pattern of volcanic sulfate aerosols recorded in a Greenland ice-core acidity profile and a significant negative growth response to individual explosive volcanic events. The appearance of single events in the mid-latitude tree-ring record, in connection with ice-core evidence from the arctic and historical records from the Mediterranean, indicates that the majority of these events represent climatically effective volcanic eruptions, producing temperature decreases on the order of 1°C for up to 2 yr after the initial eruption. Clusters of climatically effective volcanic events may serve as a trigger to glaciation and are consistently associated with lowered ringwidths and late-Holocene glacier advance in the Sierra Nevada. The tree-ring record strongly suggests forcing of solar radiation receipt and temperatures by increased volcanic aerosols, especially during the Recess Peak advances and Matthes (Little Ice Age) advances from 1400 to 1850 A.D. Intervals with an absence of significant volcanic aerosol production or historically documented eruptive activity correspond to intervals of significantly increased indexed ringwidth values, minimal numbers of severe annual negative ringwidth anomalies, and an absence of glacial deposits in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , July 1990 , pp. 67 - 85
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baillie, M.G.L. Pilcher, J.R., (1973). A simple crossdating program for tree-ring research Tree-Ring Bulletin 33 7–14 Google Scholar
Baldwin, B. Pollack, J.B. Summers, A. Toon, O.B. Sagan, C. Van Camp, W., (1976). Stratospheric aerosols and climatic change Nature (London) 263 551–555 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R.S., (1988). The explosive volcanic eruption signal in northern hemisphere continental temperature records Climatic Change 12 221–243 Google Scholar
Briffa, K.R. Jones, P.D. Schweingruber, F.H., (1988). Summer temperature patterns over Europe: A reconstruction from 1750 A.D. based on maximum latewood density indices of conifers Quaternary Research 30 36–52 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D.H. Stephenson, F.R., (1978). An interpretation of pre-telescopic sunspot records from the Orient Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 19 387–410 Google Scholar
Fritts, H.C., (1976). Tree Rings and Climate Academic Press London Google Scholar
Graumlich, L. Brubaker, L.B., (1986). Reconstruction of annual temperature (1590–1979) for Longmire, Washington, derived from tree-rings Quaternary Research 25 223–234 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammer, C.U. Clausen, H.B. Dansgaard, W., (1980). Greenland ice sheet evidence of post-glacial volcanism and its climatic impact Nature (London) 288 230–235 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, P.D. Wigley, T.M.L. Wright, P.B., (1986). Global temperature variations between 1861 and 1984 Nature (London) 322 430–434 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimball, H.H., (1918). Volcanic eruptions and solar radiation intensities Monthly Weather Review 46 333–356 Google Scholar
Kimball, H.H., (1924). Variations in solar radiation intensities measured at the surface of the earth Monthly Weather Review 52 527–529 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaMarche, V.C. Jr. Graybill, D.A. Fritts, H.C. Rose, M.R., (1984). Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide: Tree ring evidence for growth enhancement in natural vegetation Science 225 1019–1021 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaMarche, V.C. Jr. Hirschboeck, K.K., (1984). Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions Nature (London) 307 121–126 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaMarche, V.C. Jr. Stockton, C.W., (1974). Chronologies from temperature sensitive bristlecone pines at upper tree-line in the western United States Tree-Ring Bulletin 34 21–45 Google Scholar
Lamb, H.H., (1970). Volcanic dust in the atmosphere; with a chronology and assessment of its meteorological significance Philosphical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 266 425–533 Google Scholar
Lamb, H.H., (1977). Supplementary volcanic dust veil assessments Climate Monitor 6 57–67 Google Scholar
Legrand, M. Delmas, R.J., (1987). A 220-year continuous record of volcanic H2SO4 in the Antarctic ice sheet Nature (London) 327 671–676 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerbekmo, J.F. Westgate, J.A. Smith, D.G.W. Denton, G.H., (1975). New data on the character and history of the White River volcanic eruption, Alaska Suggate, R.P. Cresswell, M.M. Quaternary Studies Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington 203–209 Google Scholar
Lough, J.M. Fritts, H.C., (1987). An assessment of the possible effects of volcanic eruptions on North American climate using tree-ring data, 1602 to 1900 A.D. Climatic Change 10 219–239 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mass, C. Schneider, S.H., (1977). Influence of sunspots and volcanic dust on long-term temperature records inferred by statistical investigations J. Atmospheric Sciences 34 1195–2004 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newhall, C.G. Self, S., (1982). The volcanic explosivity index (VEI): An estimate of the explosive magnitude for historical volcanism J. Geophysical Research 87 1231–1238 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S.C., (1986). Pattern and forcing of northern hemisphere glacier variations during the last millennium Quaternary Research 26 27–48 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rampino, M.R. Self, S., (1982). Historic eruptions of Tambora (1815), Krakatau (1883), and Agung (1963), their stratospheric aerosols, and climatic impact Quaternary Research 18 127–143 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, S.H., (1983). Volcanic dust veils and climate: How clear is the connection? An editorial Climatic Change 5 111–113 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scuderi, L.A., (1987). Glacier variations in the Sierra Nevada, California, as related to a 1200-year tree-ring chronology Quaternary Research 27 220–231 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scuderi, L.A., (1987). Late-Holocene upper timberline variation in the southern Sierra Nevada Nature (London) 325 242–244 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scuderi, L.A., (1990). Oriental sunspot observations and volcanism Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 31 109–120 Google Scholar
Self, S. Rampino, M.R. Barbera, J.J., (1981). The possible effects of large 19th and 20th century volcanic eruptions on zonal and hemispheric surface temperatures J. Volcanology and Geothermal Research 11 41–60 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simkin, T. Siebert, L. McClelland, L. Bridge, D. Newhall, C. Latter, J.H., (1981). Volcanoes of the World Hutchinson Ross Stroudsburg Google Scholar
Stokes, M.A. Smiley, T.L., (1968). An Introduction to Tree-Ring Dating Univ. of Chicago Press Chicago Google Scholar
Stommel, H. Stommel, E., (1979). The year without a summer Scientific American 240 176–186 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stothers, R.B., (1984). The great Tambora eruption in 1815 and its aftermath Science 224 1191–1198 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stothers, R.B. Rampino, M.R., (1983). Volcanic eruptions from the Mediterranean before A.D. 630 from written and archaeological sources Journal of Geophysical Research 88 6357–6371 Google Scholar
Wittman, A.D. Xu, Z.T., (1987). A catalogue of sunspot observations from 165 BC to AD 1684 Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series 70 83–94 Google Scholar
Yau, K.K.C. Stephenson, F.R., (1988). A revised catalogue of Far Eastern observations of sunspots (165 BC to AD 1918) Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 29 175–197 Google Scholar