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Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions

Nature volume 307, pages 121–126 (1984)Cite this article

Abstract

New data about climatically-effective volcanic eruptions during the past several thousand years may be contained in frost-damage zones in the annual rings of trees. There is good agreement in the timing of frost events and recent eruptions, and the damage can be plausibly linked to climatic effects of stratospheric aerosol veils on hemispheric and global scales. The cataclysmic proto-historic eruption of Santorini (Thera), in the Aegean, is tentatively dated to 1628–26 BC from frost-ring evidence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    Valmore C. LaMarche Jr

  2. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    Katherine K. Hirschboeck

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  1. Valmore C. LaMarche Jr
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  2. Katherine K. Hirschboeck
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LaMarche, V., Hirschboeck, K. Frost rings in trees as records of major volcanic eruptions. Nature 307, 121–126 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/307121a0

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