Temperature Dependence of Isotope Ratios in Tree Rings

Abstract

The stable isotope ratios of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen have been measured for a German oak in wood samples of roughly three years each, for the years 1712-1954 A.D., and correlated with the existing weather records from England, Basel, and Geneva to evaluate the empirical temperature coefficients. Isotope ratios in a second official oak, measured for the years 1530-1800 A.D., show the cold temperatures of the Little Ice Age interspersed with warm intervals.