APPLICATIONS OF INTERANNUAL-RESOLUTION STABLE-ISOTOPE RECORDS OF SPELEOTHEM - CLIMATIC CHANGES IN BEIJING AND TIANJIN, CHINA DURING THE PAST 500 YEARS - THE DELTA-O-18 RECORD

delta(18)O of a stalagmite collected from Shihua Cave, 50 km southwest of Beijing is analyzed. The uppermost 2 cm was sampled at about 3-yea r intervals by a computer-controlled microsampling device. A total of 133 samples were analyzed, covering the last 480 years. A comparison o f the delta(18)O record with the instrumentally recorded precipitation in Beijing and Tianjin back to 1840 AD shows that high precipitation correlates with negative delta(18)O peaks. The long-term delta(18)O tr end records temperature changes. Between 1620 and 1900 AD, the tempera ture was cooler than the average value for the 480-year record, corres ponding to the Little Ice Age. Temperatures warmer than the average pr evailed during 1520-1620 and 1900-present. Superimposed on the long-te rm trend are about 14 delta(18)O cycles of 30-40-year periodicity, wit h wet periods centered around 1985, 1955, 1910, 1880, 1840, 1800, 1760 , 1730, 1690, 1660, 1630, 1600, 1560 and 1530 AD.