I wonder what percentage of the world's trees have been carbon dated. I'd bet that effectively 0% of the world's trees have been carbon dated and that there remain older ones out there.
Carbon dating only works on a dead organism.
The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
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Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#22I wonder what percentage of the world's trees have been carbon dated. I'd bet that effectively 0% of the world's trees have been carbon dated and that there remain older ones out there.
Carbon dating only works on a dead organism.
If you look at the trunk of a tree, almost all of it is actually dead. There is only a relative thin layer of tissue (the cambium) under the bark that is alive. The same is true for roots (with minor differences).
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's also Prometheus, which was older than Methusaleh but was cut down by people looking for the old trees. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)
When I had ambitions for general interest blogging, I had an article kicking around in my head on the dangers of being a superlative tree. Prometheus was the oldest tree, killed by a core sample. Tree of Ténéré, the most isolated tree in the world, felled by a drunk driver. [1] The Senator, the biggest cypress in the world was lit afire by an arsonist. [2] Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce, was felled by someone prote…
The meth example you're thinking of is probably The Senator, which you've already linked.
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's also Prometheus, which was older than Methusaleh but was cut down by people looking for the old trees. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)
When I had ambitions for general interest blogging, I had an article kicking around in my head on the dangers of being a superlative tree. Prometheus was the oldest tree, killed by a core sample. Tree of Ténéré, the most isolated tree in the world, felled by a drunk driver. [1] The Senator, the biggest cypress in the world was lit afire by an arsonist. [2] Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce, was felled by someone prote…
The Kiidk'yaas one is bad-ass! I hope they make a movie out of him.
Edit: They did! [1]
[1] https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/film-review-hadw...
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's also Prometheus, which was older than Methusaleh but was cut down by people looking for the old trees. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)
When I had ambitions for general interest blogging, I had an article kicking around in my head on the dangers of being a superlative tree. Prometheus was the oldest tree, killed by a core sample. Tree of Ténéré, the most isolated tree in the world, felled by a drunk driver. [1] The Senator, the biggest cypress in the world was lit afire by an arsonist. [2] Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce, was felled by someone prote…
If you visit Muir Woods north of SF, they refuse to tell you which tree is the tallest in the park.
For good reason. People suck.
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#26I'd always thought that the Methuselah Tree in California was the oldest living tree. Apparently there's some disagreement, as Old Tjikko is a clonal tree, meaning the trunks come and go but the roots stay living underneath [1]. So if you're counting non-clone trees, Methuselah is the oldest. If you're counting clonal trees, some Quaking Aspens are believed to be between 80,000 and 1,000,000 years old [2]. [1] https:…
There's also Prometheus, which was older than Methusaleh but was cut down by people looking for the old trees. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(tree)
Terrible. Reminds me of this Far Side cartoon.
https://jennafeld.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/tree.jpeg (Link to the image on a random person’s WordPress site)
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#27I often think that tidbits like this should be kept local or private. I can imagine some jackass trying to chop this one down now, but it seems like it might survive it as long as they don't kill the roots.
Still awesome stuff.
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I had ambitions for general interest blogging, I had an article kicking around in my head on the dangers of being a superlative tree. Prometheus was the oldest tree, killed by a core sample. Tree of Ténéré, the most isolated tree in the world, felled by a drunk driver. [1] The Senator, the biggest cypress in the world was lit afire by an arsonist. [2] Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce, was felled by someone prote…
The meth example you're thinking of is probably The Senator, which you've already linked.
I think you're right.
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I had ambitions for general interest blogging, I had an article kicking around in my head on the dangers of being a superlative tree. Prometheus was the oldest tree, killed by a core sample. Tree of Ténéré, the most isolated tree in the world, felled by a drunk driver. [1] The Senator, the biggest cypress in the world was lit afire by an arsonist. [2] Kiidk'yaas, a rare golden spruce, was felled by someone prote…
If you visit Muir Woods north of SF, they refuse to tell you which tree is the tallest in the park. For good reason. People suck.
Well there's always a tallest tree in the forest, if the current tallest is cut down, another becomes the tallest, so there's no particular gain or loss over and above any other big tree.
Re: The World’s Oldest Tree Lives in Sweden
#30How do they use carbon 14 to date this? Isn’t it used to date dead things? And if the trunk comes and goes, the bark is never really old, is it?