Ancient Kauri Trees, which are hidden in New Zealand`s peat bogs will soon be unearthed by researchers led by the University of Exeter.
The tree rings could hold the secret to climate fluctuations going back to the end of the last ice age.
In addition to the tree ring analysis, the scientists will also carry out detailed carbon dating.
Kauri (Agathis australis) are conifer trees buried in peat bogs across northern New Zealand. Trees can measure up to four metres wide and live for up to 2,000 years. The wood of the tree is highly-prized for furniture, arts and crafts.
There is nowhere else in the world with such a rich resource of ancient wood that spans such a large period of time. The ancient kauri logs are of enormous dimensions, up to several metres across, and have the potential to provide new detailed information about rapid, extreme and abrupt climate changes at a time when there was significant human migration throughout the globe, according to the ScienceDaily article.
Professor Christopher Ramsey, from the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, said: `This gives us a unique opportunity to increase our knowledge of the earth`s climate and human responses to it at the end of the last Ice Age. The radiocarbon measurements should give us important new data that will help us to understand interactions between the atmosphere and the oceans during this period when there was rapid and dynamic change. Equally exciting is the prospect it will give us of more precise dating of archaeological sites from this period -- illuminating the only window we have onto how humans responded to these major changes in the environment. (from ScienceDaily)
Source: http://global-warming.accuweather.com/
