Utilisation des isotopes stables de l’oxygène des cernes d’arbres pour déterminer l’origine des inondations passées : premiers résultats pour la péninsule ibérique

Abstract

Tree-ring studies have been used for over fifty years to date and quantify past flood events. Stable C and O isotopes in tree-rings have also been extensively applied to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions and their changes over time. However, the two approaches have not previously been combined. In this study we explore whether the meteorological origin of precipitation causing past flood events might be assessed by investigating oxygen stable isotopes in tree rings. It is well known that floods may have different origins, e.g. heavy convective rainstorms, frontal precipitation, snow melting, etc.; each of these floodwater sources bears a particular isotopic fingerprint.