Phenylglucosazone as a paleoclimatic proxy

This data set demonstrates that phenylglucosazone (PG), a derivative of cellulose, is superior to cellulose as an indicator of source water from tree rings. We developed a method of derivatizing small amounts of cellulose to PG. We then applied this method to three tree ring sequences in areas where climate and the isotopic ratios of rainfall were well characterized. We compare the predictions of the isotope ratios of source water from cellulose, PG and the oxygen attached to the second carbon of the glucose moieties. We show that PG gives the best estimate.