Lincoln's New Salem Tree Ring Chronology for Illinois Paleoclimate

279 calendar years of tree ring data from Lincoln's New Salem State Park in Illinois, extending from 279 to -30 years before present. The dataset is part of the NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and was archived by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. This archived study was last updated in 1980.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past climate conditions like temperature or precipitation using the tree ring width chronology.
• Calibrate radiocarbon dates or date archaeological sites by cross-referencing the tree ring series.
• Analyze long-term ecological responses to climate events using the year-by-year growth record.
• Validate regional climate model simulations for the last few centuries with proxy tree ring data.

Strengths

• Covers a 279-year time series for climate proxy analysis.
• Geographically specific to a known historic site in Illinois.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends at -30 BP, providing no data for recent centuries.
• Unknown sample size and replication may affect statistical robustness.
• Data is from 1980 and may not reflect modern methodological standards.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology).

Time Range

279 to -30 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

Last updated in 1980.

Geography

Lincoln's New Salem State Park, Illinois, United States.