Dendroclimatic Reconstruction of Summer Temperatures in Irik Valley, Mount Elbrus (Greater Caucasus)

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests an acceleration of glacier retreat in Greater Caucasus after 1980. For the same period a significant summer temperature warming trend and little or no change in precipitation variation have been observed. In this paper we seek to find similar past climatic conditions using a dendroclimatic reconstruction of summer temperatures from upper treeline sites after the Little Ice Age (LIA). Dendroclimatological sampling of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) has been made in Irik Valley, near Elbrus glacier, and a tree-ring width (TRW) chronology has been used to reconstruct May – August (MJJA) temperatures back to 1830. Three warm periods were identified in the MJJA temperatures reconstructed data (1830 - 1900), but we cannot appreciate if they had the same intensity as the recent warm period