| 1. |
- Buntgen, U., et al.
(författare)
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Tree rings reveal globally coherent signature of cosmogenic radiocarbon events in 774 and 993 CE
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Though tree-ring chronologies are annually resolved, their dating has never been independently validated at the global scale. Moreover, it is unknown if atmospheric radiocarbon enrichment events of cosmogenic origin leave spatiotemporally consistent fingerprints. Here we measure the 14C content in 484 individual tree rings formed in the periods 770–780 and 990–1000 CE. Distinct 14C excursions starting in the boreal summer of 774 and the boreal spring of 993 ensure the precise dating of 44 tree-ring records from five continents. We also identify a meridional decline of 11-year mean atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations across both hemispheres. Corroborated by historical eye-witness accounts of red auroras, our results suggest a global exposure to strong solar proton radiation. To improve understanding of the return frequency and intensity of past cosmic events, which is particularly important for assessing the potential threat of space weather on our society, further annually resolved 14C measurements are needed.
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| 2. |
- Björklund, J., et al.
(författare)
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Scientific Merits and Analytical Challenges of Tree-Ring Densitometry
- 2019
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Ingår i: Reviews of geophysics. - 8755-1209 .- 1944-9208. ; 57:4, s. 1224-1264
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- X-ray microdensitometry on annually resolved tree-ring samples has gained an exceptional position in last-millennium paleoclimatology through the maximum latewood density (MXD) parameter, but also increasingly through other density parameters. For 50 years, X-ray based measurement techniques have been the de facto standard. However, studies report offsets in the mean levels for MXD measurements derived from different laboratories, indicating challenges of accuracy and precision. Moreover, reflected visible light-based techniques are becoming increasingly popular, and wood anatomical techniques are emerging as a potentially powerful pathway to extract density information at the highest resolution. Here we review the current understanding and merits of wood density for tree-ring research, associated microdensitometric techniques, and analytical measurement challenges. The review is further complemented with a careful comparison of new measurements derived at 17 laboratories, using several different techniques. The new experiment allowed us to corroborate and refresh long-standing wisdom but also provide new insights. Key outcomes include (i) a demonstration of the need for mass/volume-based recalibration to accurately estimate average ring density; (ii) a substantiation of systematic differences in MXD measurements that cautions for great care when combining density data sets for climate reconstructions; and (iii) insights into the relevance of analytical measurement resolution in signals derived from tree-ring density data. Finally, we provide recommendations expected to facilitate futureinter-comparability and interpretations for global change research.
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| 3. |
- Björklund, Jesper, 1979, et al.
(författare)
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Scientific Merits and Analytical Challenges ofTree-Ring Densitometry
- 2019
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Ingår i: Reviews of Geophysics. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 8755-1209 .- 1944-9208. ; 57:4, s. 1224-1264
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- X-ray microdensitometry on annually resolved tree-ring samples has gained an exceptional position in last-millennium paleoclimatology through the maximum latewood density (MXD) parameter, but also increasingly through other density parameters. For 50 years, X-ray based measurement techniques have been the de facto standard. However, studies report offsets in the mean levels for MXD measurements derived from different laboratories, indicating challenges of accuracy and precision. Moreover, reflected visible light-based techniques are becoming increasingly popular, and wood anatomical techniques are emerging as a potentially powerful pathway to extract density information at the highest resolution. Here we review the current understanding and merits of wood density for tree-ring research, associated microdensitometric techniques, and analytical measurement challenges. The review is further complemented with a careful comparison of new measurements derived at 17 laboratories, using several different techniques. The new experiment allowed us to corroborate and refresh "long-standing wisdom" but also provide new insights. Key outcomes include (i) a demonstration of the need for mass/volume-based recalibration to accurately estimate average ring density; (ii) a substantiation of systematic differences in MXD measurements that cautions for great care when combining density data sets for climate reconstructions; and (iii) insights into the relevance of analytical measurement resolution in signals derived from tree-ring density data. Finally, we provide recommendations expected to facilitate futureinter-comparability and interpretations for global change research.
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| 4. |
- Büntgen, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
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Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 9:3, s. 231-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climatic changes during the first half of the Common Era have been suggested to play a role in societal reorganizations in Europe and Asia. In particular, the sixth century coincides with rising and falling civilizations, pandemics, human migration and political turmoil. Our understanding of the magnitude and spatial extent as well as the possible causes and concurrences of climate change during this period is, however, still limited. Here we use tree-ring chronologies from the Russian Altai and European Alps to reconstruct summer temperatures over the past two millennia. We find an unprecedented, long-lasting and spatially synchronized cooling following a cluster of large volcanic eruptions in 536, 540 and 547 AD, which was probably sustained by ocean and sea-ice feedbacks, as well as a solar minimum. We thus identify the interval from 536 to about 660 AD as the Late Antique Little Ice Age. Spanning most of the Northern Hemisphere, we suggest that this cold phase be considered as an additional environmental factor contributing to the establishment of the Justinian plague, transformation of the eastern Roman Empire and collapse of the Sasanian Empire, movements out of the Asian steppe and Arabian Peninsula, spread of Slavic-speaking peoples and political upheavals in China.
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| 5. |
- Büntgen, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
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Limited capacity of tree growth to mitigate the global greenhouse effect under predicted warming
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is generally accepted that animal heartbeat and lifespan are often inversely correlated, however, the relationship between productivity and longevity has not yet been described for trees growing under industrial and pre-industrial climates. Using 1768 annually resolved and absolutely dated ring width measurement series from living and dead conifers that grew in undisturbed, high-elevation sites in the Spanish Pyrenees and the Russian Altai over the past 2000 years, we test the hypothesis of grow fast-die young. We find maximum tree ages are significantly correlated with slow juvenile growth rates. We conclude, the interdependence between higher stem productivity, faster tree turnover, and shorter carbon residence time, reduces the capacity of forest ecosystems to store carbon under a climate warming-induced stimulation of tree growth at policy-relevant timescales.
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| 6. |
- Büntgen, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
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Reply to 'Limited Late Antique cooling'
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 10:4, s. 243-243
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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