A 600 year-long drought index for central Anatolia

We have used sediments from Nar lake in central Turkey to reconstruct climatic variability over timescales longer than can be obtained from direct meteorological observations. Because the sediments of this lake are annually layered and precisely dated, it has been possible to calibrate sedimentary climate proxies against meteorological records to derive a drought index; this has then been applied to time periods before instrumental data are available. In this study, δ18O from Nar lake carbonates have been used to generate a decadal average P/E index for central Anatolia, which highlights major drought events since 1400 AD.