Tree Ring Chronology For Paliza Canyon In New Mexico

Tree ring width measurements from Paliza Canyon, New Mexico, provide a 314-year climate proxy record spanning from 292 to -22 calendar years before present. The data is archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology as part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank. This record was contributed by researcher Dean and last updated in the NOAA system in 1972.

Use Cases

• Calibrating tree ring width series against modern climate records to reconstruct past precipitation or temperature for the region.
• Cross-dating this chronology (ITRDB NM043) with other regional tree ring collections to validate and extend climate reconstructions.
• Analyzing the growth pattern anomalies within the 314-year series to identify periods of drought, fire, or insect disturbance.

Strengths

• Covers a 314-year time period (292 to -22 BP), providing a multi-century climate proxy.
• Part of the authoritative International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection maintained by NOAA NCEI.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends at -22 BP (22 years before 1950), limiting direct overlap with the instrumental record.
• Data is from a single geographic location (Paliza Canyon, NM), reducing spatial representativeness.
• Last metadata update was in 1972, indicating the record has not been recently revised.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Collection Method

Tree ring cores collected and measured via dendrochronological techniques.

Time Range

292 to -22 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

null

Geography

Paliza Canyon, New Mexico, United States of America.