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Relative humidity reconstruction for northwestern China’s Altay Mountains using tree-ring δ18O

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  • Geography
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Relative humidity is an important factor in water and water vapor feedback cycles. In this study, we established a 222-year annual tree-ring δ18O chronology for Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ldb.) from the Altay Mountains in northwestern China. Climate response analyses revealed that the relative humidity was the primary factor limiting tree-ring δ18O fractionation. Based on our analysis, tree-ring δ18O can be used to reconstruct the July–August relative humidity based on both a reasonable mechanism of tree-ring δ18O fractionation and a statistically significant regression model. We used this model to reconstruct variations in the July–August relative humidity, and the model explained 47.4 % of the total variation in the measured relative humidity data from 1961 to 2011. The relative humidity in the study area increased from 1900 to the 1990s and decreased thereafter. Two regime-shift dry periods were detected during the study period (one from 1817 to 1830 and the other from 2004 to 2011).

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their constructive comments and suggestions. This work was supported by the Global Change Research Program of China (2010CB951401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41171167), the Project for Incubation of Specialists in Glaciology and Geocryology of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (J0930003/J0109), the China Desert Meteorological Science Research Foundation (Sqj2011013 and Sqj2009001), the Chinese Academy Science Special Grant for Postgraduate Research, Innovation and Practice, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Interdisciplinary Innovation Team Project (29Y329B91).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Guobao Xu, Xiaohong Liu, Dahe Qin, Tuo Chen, Wenzhi Wang, Guoju Wu, Weizhen Sun, Wenling An & Xiaomin Zeng

  2. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Guobao Xu, Wenzhi Wang, Guoju Wu, Wenling An & Xiaomin Zeng

  3. Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Ürümqi, 830002, China

    Guobao Xu

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  1. Guobao Xu
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Correspondence to Xiaohong Liu.

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Xu, G., Liu, X., Qin, D. et al. Relative humidity reconstruction for northwestern China’s Altay Mountains using tree-ring δ18O. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 190–200 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-0055-y

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