Reconstruction of alpine snowfall in southern Kazakhstan based on oxygen isotopes in tree rings
Qin L. Bolatov K. Shang H. Yu S. Gou X. Bagila M. Bolatova A. Ainur U. Zhang R.
April 2022Springer
Theoretical and Applied Climatology
2022#148Issue 1-2727 - 737 pp.
Alpine snowfall is an important source of water for arid areas. To investigate the history of alpine snowfall beyond instrumental records, we developed a tree-ring α-cellulose oxygen isotope (δ18O) chronology of Schrenk spruce (Picea schrenkiana Fisch. et Mey) for the period 1850–2015 using samples from timberline in southern Kazakhstan. We find that the tree-ring δ18O chronology is significantly negatively correlated with alpine snowfall of the previous year. The δ18O chronology accounts for 46.4% of the observed variance in winter precipitation (1977–2014), and was therefore used to reconstruct alpine snowfall of the previous winter (WP). The alpine snowfall reconstruction reveals that the WP has increased significantly in southern Kazakhstan over the past 166 years, at a rate of 1.7 mm/decade. Prior to the 1910s, there was relatively less alpine snowfall; since the 1920s, there has been more. The WP reconstruction indicates that alpine snowfall increased during the 1860–1880s, 1910–1920s, 1940–1950s, and from the 1980s to present, and decreased during the other decades. Since the 1980s, alpine snowfall of southern Kazakhstan continues and increases rapidly.
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research (CMA)/Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology, Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi, 830002, China
Meteorology and Hydrology Department, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
Almaty Branch of Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Forestry, Ministries of Agriculture, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Ministry of Education and Science, Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU), Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Physical and Chemical Research (CMA)/Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Tree-Ring Ecology
Meteorology and Hydrology Department
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education)
Almaty Branch of Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Forestry
Ministry of Education and Science
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026