Tree ring dating definition

The bark is composed of several types of tissue produced (both toward the inside and the outside of the tree) by the cork cambium layer.The development of a master tree ring dating system for any given site requires consideration of slope, temperature, age of the tree, precipitation, and other growth factors.This record of annual summer information is very important when you consider that certain types of trees grow slowly over hundreds and hundreds of years, and therefore contain a record of as many years of climate and climate change. Trees in the temperate zone only record the growing season, so the winter season, no matter how dramatic, will not be seen in the ring record.Dendrochronology is a relatively young and dynamic branch of science based on the extensive record of the past environment and climate that is evident in the biological growth of trees.In certain cases, trees can live for many hundreds of years and in an extraordinary case, like the bristlecone pine, thousands of years!

Data from many individual trees are collected and standardized to eliminate variations that arise from isolated factors.

Because the rings are basically recording a good growing season or a bad growing season, they are indirectly recording more than just moisture.

They also document temperature and cloud cover as they impact tree growth as well.

Another layer, the cork cambium, contributes to the expanding girth of a tree.

The cork cambium is a thin layer cells that ultimately produces the bark of the tree.