Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records
<p>Oxygen isotope ratios (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span>) of tree-ring cellulose and historical documentary records are widely used to explore the hydroclimatic conditions of the past. In this study, we attempted to reco...
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Copernicus Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Climate of the Past |
| Online Access: | https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/133/2025/cp-21-133-2025.pdf |
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| author | H. Iizuka K. Sho Z. Li M. Sano Y. Kato T. Nakatsuka |
| author_facet | H. Iizuka K. Sho Z. Li M. Sano Y. Kato T. Nakatsuka |
| author_sort | H. Iizuka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Oxygen isotope ratios (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span>) of tree-ring cellulose and historical documentary records are widely used to explore the hydroclimatic conditions of the past. In this study, we attempted to reconstruct chronologies of local climate disasters spanning 4 centuries in central Japan using these proxy data. For tree-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> measurements, we prepared cellulose samples from a long-living cedar tree with continuously broad ring widths. To enhance the temporal resolution, we divided each annual ring into several (mainly six) segments. Analysis of the correlations with observed relative humidity and precipitation data revealed that the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> variations in the sample tree reflected the hydroclimatic conditions from April to July in each year. Subsequently, we chronologically listed the occurrence of eight types of disasters in the 17th to 19th centuries in the area adjacent to the sample tree according to 20 titles of “Town/City history”, which is a compilation of historical documentary records from the local municipality. By comparison with the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> data, we found that most of the major droughts and long rains recorded in the historical documents occurred in the Baiu rainy season (typically June–July) or pre-Baiu season, corresponding to the growing season of the sample tree. Based on an analysis of the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> variation for documentary-based drought and long-rain years, we set thresholds of intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> values to identify and extract drought and long-rain years. Drought and long-rain chronologies obtained by applying these thresholds were temporally continuous, complementing those based on documentary records. They depicted the relationships between the frequency of these climate disasters and the occurrence of major famines and the long-term tendency of length and magnitude of the Baiu rainy season in historical times.</p> |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-478f59668bcf4a56bc2b9b87cef7e656 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1814-9324 1814-9332 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
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| series | Climate of the Past |
| spelling | doaj-art-478f59668bcf4a56bc2b9b87cef7e6562025-01-21T06:57:27ZengCopernicus PublicationsClimate of the Past1814-93241814-93322025-01-012113314410.5194/cp-21-133-2025Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary recordsH. Iizuka0K. Sho1Z. Li2M. Sano3Y. Kato4T. Nakatsuka5Department of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Industrial Management Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555, JapanDepartment of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Industrial Management Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya 466-8555, JapanGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, JapanNational Museum of Japanese History, Sakura 285-8502, JapanGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, JapanGraduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan<p>Oxygen isotope ratios (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span>) of tree-ring cellulose and historical documentary records are widely used to explore the hydroclimatic conditions of the past. In this study, we attempted to reconstruct chronologies of local climate disasters spanning 4 centuries in central Japan using these proxy data. For tree-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> measurements, we prepared cellulose samples from a long-living cedar tree with continuously broad ring widths. To enhance the temporal resolution, we divided each annual ring into several (mainly six) segments. Analysis of the correlations with observed relative humidity and precipitation data revealed that the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> variations in the sample tree reflected the hydroclimatic conditions from April to July in each year. Subsequently, we chronologically listed the occurrence of eight types of disasters in the 17th to 19th centuries in the area adjacent to the sample tree according to 20 titles of “Town/City history”, which is a compilation of historical documentary records from the local municipality. By comparison with the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> data, we found that most of the major droughts and long rains recorded in the historical documents occurred in the Baiu rainy season (typically June–July) or pre-Baiu season, corresponding to the growing season of the sample tree. Based on an analysis of the intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> variation for documentary-based drought and long-rain years, we set thresholds of intra-ring <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>18</sup>O</span> values to identify and extract drought and long-rain years. Drought and long-rain chronologies obtained by applying these thresholds were temporally continuous, complementing those based on documentary records. They depicted the relationships between the frequency of these climate disasters and the occurrence of major famines and the long-term tendency of length and magnitude of the Baiu rainy season in historical times.</p>https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/133/2025/cp-21-133-2025.pdf |
| spellingShingle | H. Iizuka K. Sho Z. Li M. Sano Y. Kato T. Nakatsuka Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records Climate of the Past |
| title | Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| title_full | Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| title_fullStr | Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| title_short | Reconstruction of drought and long-rain chronologies since the 17th century in central Japan using intra-annual tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| title_sort | reconstruction of drought and long rain chronologies since the 17th century in central japan using intra annual tree ring oxygen isotope ratios and documentary records |
| url | https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/133/2025/cp-21-133-2025.pdf |
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