Isotope-Dendrochronological Investigation of Tropical Trees From Brazil: A New High-Resolution Isotopic Paleoclimate Archive

Florida International University, Miami FL

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed exploratory study is to establish the first terrestrial high-resolution paleoclimate archive spanning the last 200 years based on a tree ring oxygen isotopic record in the tropics. This will be accomplished through the analysis of a very unique tree species in Brazil. The oxygen isotopic data from this study may be used to infer changes in the isotopic composition of soil water that the trees are using, which is directly related to precipitation (and thus potentially linked to atmospheric circulation). This work will be accomplished using a newly developed methodology for the optimized measurement of oxygen isotopes in organic matter. This approach is both novel and experimental, yet the results would provide the first annual resolution isotopic record of climate change of the last 200 years from Brazil.