date: Tue Mar 3 14:56:03 2009 from: Keith Briffa subject: Re: 2k Arctic synthesis to: Darrell Kaufman Darrell I would like to make some comments but the earliest I can get to this is Thursday (we have visitors here all day tomorrow. In short I would like to be involved - but I would rather wait and see the basis of your reaction to my initial thoughts when I get a Tracked changes version back to you. You are correct that there are clear limitations in the preservation of trend over two millennia in SOME of the data Mann et al used - and in the current series you cite for Yamal (Hantemirov et al) . I do believe that the composite series in our Phil Trans paper is a convenient representation of the circum-western Eurasian Arctic tree-line data - though the Grudd and Nauzbaev papers are virtually similar to our data for their areas. However I have a few reservations/comments on other aspects of the manuscript that I believe any likely referee might pick up on . Is it ok to wait til Thursday or will this not be acceptable for getting comments back? I know how these time lines are crucial. Best wishes Keith At 14:15 02/03/2009, you wrote: Hello Keith: Following the recommendations of Malcolm and Phil (via Ray), it's clear that I should have come to you sooner. I am now well along on a manuscript that summarizes 2000-year-long proxy temperature records from the Arctic (attached). The impetus for the paper is the new compilation of high-resolution lake records that my group recently published in J Paleolimnology. On the tree-ring side, it's clear to me now that I should not have used the series from the Mann et al. compilation, and I hadn't see your 2008 Phil Trans paper until just last week. As far as I can tell, the only records that meet the criteria for this study are your three new RCS series from Eurasia and D'Arrigo's Gulf of Alaska record. Apparently, none of the Malcolm's series in Mann et al. were processed in a way that would preserve the millennial trend, and these should be omitted from the synthesis. I now need to substantially revamp the manuscript. Before I do, I want to be sure that I get it right this time and hope that you will be interested in joining as co-author to help guide the tree-ring component of the synthesis. I see that you have posted the Phil Trans data on your website, but would much prefer to have your involvement before using the data. Unfortunately, the timing for submission is an issue. I am leading a 12-PI proposal that is currently pending and would benefit greatly if this paper were accepted for publication. Please have a look at the manuscript, which I realize needs substantial revisions, and let me know if you have time and interest in getting involved. Thanks, Darrell  Darrell S. Kaufman Professor of Geology and Environmental Sciences Northern Arizona University 928-523-7192 [1]http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~dsk5/ Hello Keith: Following the recommendations of Malcolm and Phil (via Ray), it's clear that I should have come to you sooner. I am now well along on a manuscript that summarizes 2000-year-long proxy temperature records from the Arctic (attached). The impetus for the paper is the new compilation of high-resolution lake records that my group recently published in J Paleolimnology. On the tree-ring side, it's clear to me now that I should not have used the series from the Mann et al. compilation, and I hadn't see your 2008 Phil Trans paper until just last week. As far as I can tell, the only records that meet the criteria for this study are your three new RCS series from Eurasia and D'Arrigo's Gulf of Alaska record. Apparently, none of the Malcolm's series in Mann et al. were processed in a way that would preserve the millennial trend, and these should be omitted from the synthesis. I now need to substantially revamp the manuscript. Before I do, I want to be sure that I get it right this time and hope that you will be interested in joining as co-author to help guide the tree-ring component of the synthesis. I see that you have posted the Phil Trans data on your website, but would much prefer to have your involvement before using the data. Unfortunately, the timing for submission is an issue. I am leading a 12-PI proposal that is currently pending and would benefit greatly if this paper were accepted for publication. Please have a look at the manuscript, which I realize needs substantial revisions, and let me know if you have time and interest in getting involved. Thanks, Darrell Darrell S. Kaufman Professor of Geology and Environmental Sciences Northern Arizona University 928-523-7192 [2]http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~dsk5/ -- Professor Keith Briffa, Climatic Research Unit University of East Anglia Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K. Phone: +44-1603-593909 Fax: +44-1603-507784 [3]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/