Dendrochronology: dating materials, landforms and events by means of tree rings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17735/cyg.v36i3-4.93657Keywords:
dendrochronological dating; tree-ring; wood; dendrogeomorphology; radiocarbonAbstract
Dendrochronology is the study of the age of trees which, through the analysis of the tree rings in the wood of trunks, branches and roots, allows the dating of the life span of the tree or shrub, and of the natural or anthropic phenomena that affected it during its life cycle. This makes it possible to date and characterise geodynamic processes (internal and external), landforms and surface deposits-formations of the Quaternary with those associated with the woody materials. They have even been used for the analysis and prevention of natural hazards such as slope movements, snow avalanches, floods, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Dendrochronological studies applied to the Quaternary are mainly concentrated in North America and Europe, and in Spain in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula (Central System and the Duero and Tagus basins) and the Pyrenees. The presence of trees and shrubs in environments of almost any latitude and continent, the high temporal resolution of the technique (annual and even seasonal precision), and its wide range of application (from a few years to several millennia), make dendrochronology a very versatile and useful dating technique for Quaternary scholars, both on its own and complemented with others (radiocarbon dating).
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