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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L12205, doi:10.1029/2004GL019932, 2004

A tree-ring based reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation since 1567 A.D.

Stephen T. Gray

Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA


Lisa J. Graumlich

Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA


Julio L. Betancourt

Desert Laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA


Gregory T. Pederson

Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA


Abstract

We present a tree-ring based reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) which demonstrates that strong, low-frequency (60–100 yr) variability in basin-wide (0–70°N) sea surface temperatures (SSTs) has been a consistent feature of North Atlantic climate for the past five centuries. Intervention analysis of reconstructed AMO indicates that 20th century modes were similar to those in the preceding ∼350 yr, and wavelet spectra show robust multidecadal oscillations throughout the reconstruction. Though the exact relationships between low-frequency SST modes, higher frequency (∼7–25 yr) atmospheric modes (e.g., North Atlantic Oscillation/Arctic Oscillation), and terrestrial climates must still be resolved, our results confirm that the AMO should be considered in assessments of past and future Northern Hemisphere climates.

Received 9 March 2004; accepted 10 May 2004; published 17 June 2004.

Index Terms: 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309); 1635 Global Change: Oceans (4203); 3344 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Paleoclimatology; 4221 Oceanography: General: Dendrochronology; 4263 Oceanography: General: Ocean prediction.

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Citation: Gray, S. T., L. J. Graumlich, J. L. Betancourt, and G. T. Pederson (2004), A tree-ring based reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation since 1567 A.D., Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L12205, doi:10.1029/2004GL019932.