Annual Mean Total Precipitation Reconstruction of the Elmacık Mountain and Its Surroundings for 1858-2015 Using Scotch Pine Tree Rings

Authors : Cemil Irdem, Mücahit Coşkun

Pages : 109-121

Doi:10.26650/JGEOG2023-1263882

View : 50 | Download : 72

Publication Date : 2024-01-10

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The present study aims to use dendrochronological methods to reconstruct the precipitation history of Elmacık Mountain of Northwest Türkiye and its immediate surroundings. This research is the first dendroclimatological study in Türkiye regarding total annual precipitation reconstruction in the current literature. The study created three Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L. ssp. hamata) site chronologies (214-, 233-, and 248-year spans) using samples from Elmacık Mountain before combining the site chronologies into one regional chronology. The study calculated relations between this regional chronology and the total annual precipitation data of the Bolu, Düzce, and Sakarya meteorological stations using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. As the results are statistically suitable for reconstructing the total annual precipitation data in Bolu and Düzce, the total rainfall reconstruction of these stations was carried out over a 158 year span from 1858-2015. Low- and high-precipitation years were also revealed for 1858-1950 when the stations were not in operation. Accordingly, the years in which the annual total precipitation was at least one standard deviation unit below the average for both stations were 1860-1861, 1875, 1878, 1887, 1893, 1904-1905, 1907, 1909, 1935, 1942, 1945, and 1949. Meanwhile, 1865, 1873, 1877, 1885, 1910, 1912-1914, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1939-1940 were the years when the total annual rainfall was at least one standard deviation unit above the average. In 1901 and 1936, total annual rainfall was two standard deviations above average.
Keywords : Dendrokronoloji, yağış, sarıçam

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL