| Paleo Slide Set: Tree Rings: Ancient Chronicles of Environmental Change |
| Extending a chronology based on living trees further back in time through crossdating. | |
Dendrochronology
is the analysis of tree rings, including the dating of annual rings and
study of patterns of ring characteristics, such as widths, density,
and isotopic composition. In mid- to upper latitudes, or areas where there
is seasonality in temperature and/or precipitation, many species of trees
form annual growth rings. Because the same set of environmental factors
influence tree growth throughout a region, the patterns of ring characteristics,
such as ring widths, are often common from tree to tree. These patterns
can be matched between trees in a process called crossdating,
which is used to assign exact calendar year dates to each individual ring.
Dated and measured rings from a number of trees in a region are combined
to form a tree-ring chronology. The chronology provides two main types of
information:
Photo Credits: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, The University of Arizona |
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