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Intra-annual variations of teak cellulose δ18O in Kerala, India: implications to the reconstruction of past summer and winter monsoon rains

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Abstract

A seasonal cycle has been observed in the high and coarse resolution intra-annual analyses of oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of teak (Tectona grandis) cellulose from southern India, that receives both the south-west (SW) (summer) and the north-east (NE) (winter, more depleted in 18O) monsoon rains. The seasonal cycle as recorded by teak, with an amplitude between 1 and 3‰, shows lower δ18O values at the early and late growing seasons than at the middle. This pattern is opposite to that found in central Indian teak, nurtured mostly by the SW monsoon rain. A comparison of the observed and modeled intra-annual profiles reveals that the observed pattern of intra-annual δ18O variation in southern India is explainable only if teak trees had sampled rainfall from both the monsoons. Thus it appears possible to detect years of past excess NE monsoon rains by analyzing the δ18O of cellulose from the latewood of teak trees growing in Kerala, southern India.

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Acknowledgments

We thank ISRO-GBP for funding and R Nagabushana for assistance during isotopic measurements.

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  1. S. R. Managave

    Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 605 014, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, 380 009, India

    S. R. Managave & R. Ramesh

  2. University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, 560 065, India

    M. S. Sheshshayee

  3. Birbal Sahani Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, 226 007, India

    A. Bhattacharyya

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Managave, S.R., Sheshshayee, M.S., Bhattacharyya, A. et al. Intra-annual variations of teak cellulose δ18O in Kerala, India: implications to the reconstruction of past summer and winter monsoon rains. Clim Dyn 37, 555–567 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-010-0917-9

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