Pilger Mountain Tree Ring Chronology from 304 to 41 BC

345 years of tree-ring width measurements from ponderosa pine (PIPO) at Pilger Mountain, South Dakota, USA. The dataset was archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and last updated in 1991. It provides parameters for dendroclimatic reconstruction.

Use Cases

• Calibrating tree-ring width against known climate indices to reconstruct past temperature or precipitation for the region.
• Analyzing the chronology for marker years (e.g., narrow rings) to identify extreme drought events between 304 and 41 BC.
• Comparing this PIPO chronology with other regional tree-ring series to assess spatial climate patterns.

Strengths

• Covers a continuous 345-year period (304 to 41 BC) for long-term trend analysis.
• Sourced from the authoritative NOAA/NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends over 2000 years ago, limiting analysis of recent climate change.
• Data is from a single geographic location (Pilger Mountain, SD), reducing spatial representativeness.
• The last documented update was in 1991, indicating potential staleness in metadata or availability.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology) of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa).

Time Range

304 to -41 calendar years BP (Before Present, where present=1950), equivalent to approximately 304 BC to 41 BC.

Freshness

1991-01-01

Geography

Pilger Mountain, South Dakota, United States of America.