Abstract
Dendrochronology makes use of the annual pattern of tree radial growth in temperate regions. Each year trees put on a new ring under the bark whose width varies depending on various factors among which climate. Under same climatic conditions, trees of the same species growing at the same time show similar tree-ring patterns. Then there is agreement in year-to-year variation over long periods of time, making it possible to synchronize and date them. In that way, wooden samples from trees which died at an unknown date can be dated by comparison with master chronologies. Since the production of 14C in the atmosphere is not constant, radiocarbon dates are calibrated by using 14C content of tree-rings of known ages: that converts 14C age to the true calendar age. Currently, such calibration of radiocarbon dates by tree-ring chronologies is possible over the last 12,400 years.
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Guibal, F., Guiot, J. (2021). Dendrochronology. In: Ramstein, G., Landais, A., Bouttes, N., Sepulchre, P., Govin, A. (eds) Paleoclimatology. Frontiers in Earth Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24982-3_8
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