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Clim. Past Discuss., 7, 4223-4259, 2011
www.clim-past-discuss.net/7/4223/2011/ doi:10.5194/cpd-7-4223-2011 © Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
Extreme pointer years in tree-ring records of Central Spain as evidence of volcanic eruptions (Huaynaputina, Peru, 1600 AC) and other climatic events
Escuela de Ingeniería Técnica Forestal, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Abstract. The study of pointer years based on the numerous tree-ring chronologies of the central Iberian Peninsula (Sierra de Guadarrama) could provide complementary information about climate variability over the last 405 years. In total, 64 pointer years have been identified: 30 negative (representing minimum growths) and 34 positive (representing maximum growths), the most significant of these being 1601, 1963 and 1996 for the negative ones, and 1734 and 1737 for the positive ones. Given that summer precipitation has been the most incident factor in the general variability of growth of Pinus in the Sierra de Guadarrama in the second half of the 20th century, it is also an explanatory factor in almost 50% of the extreme growths. Furthermore, the data show that there has been variability over the centuries in the distribution of the frequencies of pointer years and intervals. The first half of the 17th century, together with the second half of the 20th century, constitute the two most notable periods for the frequency of negative pointer years in Central Spain. This variability was sufficiently notable to affirm that, both in the 17th and 20th centuries, the macroclimatic anomalies that affected growth were more frequent and more extreme than in the other two centuries analysed.
The period 1600–1602 is of special significance, being one of the most unfavourable for tree growth in the centre of Spain, with 1601 representing the minimum index in the regional chronology. It is possible to infer that these phenomena are the effect of the eruption of Huaynaputina, which occurred in Peru at the beginning of 1600 AD. This is the first time that the effects of this eruption in the tree-ring records of central and southern Europe have been demonstrated.
Citation: Génova, M.: Extreme pointer years in tree-ring records of Central Spain as evidence of volcanic eruptions (Huaynaputina, Peru, 1600 AC) and other climatic events, Clim. Past Discuss., 7, 4223-4259, doi:10.5194/cpd-7-4223-2011, 2011.