P2C2: A Network of Paleo-Monsoon Rainfall Stations in Southeast Asia to Investigate Atmospheric Circulation Changes over the Past Four Centuries

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Funding is provided to support the development and calibration of a method for reconstructing rainwater delta Oxygen-18 from cellulose extracted from the annual rings of trees that grow throughout Thailand. The researchers will measure delta Oxygen-18 tree cellulose from Khasi pine and Merkus pine trees as a means to reconstruct annual to subannual records of atmospheric precipitation at sites across Southeast (SE) Asia. The researchers hypothesize that the increased moisture from the Indian Ocean is a response to the expansion of the continental monsoon trough eastward over SE Asia. To test this hypothesis, the researchers will extend the data base of Pine delta Oxygen-18 to sites across SE Asia in order to map the spatial pattern of precipitation delta Oxygen-18 variability.The project offers the promise of helping opening tropical tree-rings to climate analysis. This is important because, at present, tropical tree cannot be used as a reliable paleoclimate archive because they do not lay down visible seasonal tree rings as do higher latitude specimens. Developing an isotopic technique for tropical trees would be a transformative breakthrough in climate analysis.