EGU2020-19868
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19868
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Maximum latewood density records of the oldest trees in the world: Great Basin Bristlecone pine (Pinus Longaeva)

Tom De Mil1,2,3, Matthew Salzer3, Charlotte Pearson3, Valerie Trouet3, and Jan Van den Bulcke1,2
Tom De Mil et al.
  • 1Ghent University, Department of Environment, Belgium
  • 2Ghent University, Centre for X-ray Tomography, Belgium
  • 3University of Arizona, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Arizona, United States

Great Basin Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) is known for its trees that attain old age. The longest chronology is more than 9000 years long, and the temperature-sensitive upper treeline chronology extends back to 5000 years. The ring width pattern of upper treeline bristlecone pine trees are strongly influenced by temperature variability at decadal to centennial scales. To infer a climate signal on annual scales, MXD is shown to be a better temperature proxy. Here, we present a preliminary Maximum Latewood Density (MXD) chronology of bristlecone pine to investigate the temperature signal in upper treeline and below. Maximum latewood density (MXD) from 24 dated cores (from various sites ranging from the upper treeline and below, oldest sample dates back to 776 AD) was determined with an X-ray CT toolchain. Ring and fibre angles were corrected and a MXD chronology was constructed. The resulting MXD chronology will be correlated to summer temperature. Future scanning will allow constructing a + 5000 year MXD chronology and could reveal the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions through this period.

How to cite: De Mil, T., Salzer, M., Pearson, C., Trouet, V., and Van den Bulcke, J.: Maximum latewood density records of the oldest trees in the world: Great Basin Bristlecone pine (Pinus Longaeva), EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-19868, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19868, 2020

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