Multi-Proxy Tree-Ring Dating during the Younger Dryas

The world's longest tree-ring chronology comprises thousands of oak and pine series from Germany and continuously covers the Holocene back to 12,325 cal BP. A lack of relict wood from the Younger Dryas cold reversal ca. 12,900–11,700 cal BP, however, challenges the extension of this absolutely dated ring width record further back in time. Here, we combine 646 high-resolution stable oxygen isotope and 795 radiocarbon measurements from subfossil pines that grew during the Younger Dryas at three different sites near Zurich, Switzerland, to extend the record. Coherency of the oxygen isotope variations secures internal crossdating, and radiocarbon wiggle-matching places the final 425-year-long ring-width chronology between 12,716 and 12,292 cal BP with an uncertainty of ±8 years. Our study describes an important step towards annual dating precision further into the Late Glacial period.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Tree-Ring Research
Published
2025-02-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3959/trr2023-1
Primary Topic
Tree-ring climate responses
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Multi-Proxy Tree-Ring Dating during the Younger Dryas

Kerstin Treydte, Giulia Guidobaldi, Daniel Nievergelt, Gerhard Helle et al.
Tree-Ring Research
Tree-ring climate responses
article

Multi-Proxy Tree-Ring Dating during the Younger Dryas

Kerstin Treydte, Giulia Guidobaldi, Daniel Nievergelt, Gerhard Helle, Adam Sookdeo, Anne Verstege, Matthias M Saurer, Lukas Wacker, Willy Tegel, Michael Friedrich, Bernd Kromer, Maren Pauly, Frederick Reinig, Jan Esper, Ulf Büntgen
article en

Abstract

The world's longest tree-ring chronology comprises thousands of oak and pine series from Germany and continuously covers the Holocene back to 12,325 cal BP. A lack of relict wood from the Younger Dryas cold reversal ca. 12,900–11,700 cal BP, however, challenges the extension of this absolutely dated ring width record further back in time. Here, we combine 646 high-resolution stable oxygen isotope and 795 radiocarbon measurements from subfossil pines that grew during the Younger Dryas at three different sites near Zurich, Switzerland, to extend the record. Coherency of the oxygen isotope variations secures internal crossdating, and radiocarbon wiggle-matching places the final 425-year-long ring-width chronology between 12,716 and 12,292 cal BP with an uncertainty of ±8 years. Our study describes an important step towards annual dating precision further into the Late Glacial period.

Tree-Ring ResearchVol. 81(1)
University of Hohenheim (DE), University of Freiburg (DE), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE), Heidelberg University (DE), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), ETH Zurich (CH), Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute (CZ), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 97%
Tree-ring climate responses
DOISourceOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.