Statistics of the AD Record of Climatic and Carbon Isotopic Change

Abstract

The AD time series of Δ 14 C, δ 13 C, and cosmic ray fluxes, Q, were analyzed for similarities. Two cases of significant correlation between Q and tree-ring δ 13 C were encountered, for which up to 25% of the variance can be attributed to changes in the tree's isotope fractionation that related to solar induced climatic changes. However, it is possible that the demonstrated correlation is fortuitous because actual climate proxy records generally do not correlate significantly with the Q record.