3 ms·
They take a small core using a hollow drill. This is enough to determine the rings and the age, and won't harm the tree.
by nn3 10y ago
They take a small core using a hollow drill. This is enough to determine the rings and the age, and won't harm the tree.
- riffraff 10y agoIANA botanist, but I think this method doesn't work on some trees (i.e. millennia-old olive trees) because old tissue is not there anymore, or because they have messed up rings, or on trees that have multiple trunks. So IIUC they integrate carbon dating, ratio between total size and growth rate and other things.