NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Myglan - Tute - LASI - ITRDB RUSS259

Tree-ring research in the Altai-Sayan Mountains so far only considered a limited number of well-replicated site chronologies. The dendroecological and palaeoclimatological potential and limitations of large parts of south-central Russia therefore remain rather unexplored. Here, we present a newly updated network of 13 larch (Larix sibirica Ldb.) tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies from mid to higher elevations along a nearly 1000 km west-to-east transect across the greater Altai-Sayan region. All data were sampled between 2009 and 2014. The corresponding site chronologies cover periods from 440 to 860 years. The highest TRW agreement is found between chronologies >=2200 m asl, whereas the material from lower elevations reveals overall less synchronized interannual to longer-term growth variability. While fluctuations in average June-July temperature predominantly contribute to the growth at higher elevations, arid air masses from Mongolia mainly affect TRW formation at lower elevations. Our results are indicative for the dendroclimatological potential of the Altai-Sayan Mountains, where both, variation in summer temperature and hydroclimate can be robustly reconstructed back in time. These findings are valid for a huge region in central Asia where reliable meteorological observations are spatially scarce and temporally restricted to the second half of the 20th century. The development of new high-resolution climate reconstruction over several centuries to millennia will further appear beneficial for timely endeavors at the interface of archaeology, climatology and history.

迄今针对阿尔泰-萨彦岭（Altai-Sayan Mountains）的树轮研究，仅采用了有限数量的高复现性站点年表。因此，俄罗斯中南部广袤区域的树木生态学与古气候学研究潜力及其局限性，迄今仍未得到充分探索。本研究构建了一套最新更新的树轮数据集网络，涵盖横跨大阿尔泰-萨彦区域、近1000公里的东西向样带中高海拔地带的13条西伯利亚落叶松（Larix sibirica Ldb.）树轮宽度（TRW）年表。所有样本采集于2009至2014年间，各站点年表的时间覆盖跨度为440至860年。海拔≥2200米的年表间树轮宽度一致性最高，而低海拔样本的年际至长期生长变异性整体同步性较弱。高海拔站点的树木生长主要受6-7月平均气温波动驱动，低海拔站点的树轮形成则主要受源自蒙古国的干燥气团影响。本研究结果证实了阿尔泰-萨彦岭的树轮气候学潜力：该区域可稳健回溯重建夏季气温与水文气候的变化。上述结论适用于中亚广袤区域——该区域可靠气象观测资料在空间分布上极为稀缺，且观测序列仅覆盖20世纪下半叶。开发数百年至数千年尺度的高分辨率气候重建序列，将对考古学、气候学与历史学交叉领域的前沿研究具有重要的支撑价值。