Crater Lake West High Tree Ring Chronology from 343 to -42 BP

385 years of tree-ring width measurements from Tsuga mertensiana (TSME) trees at the Crater Lake West High site in Oregon, USA, covering the period from 343 to -42 calendar years before present. The dataset is part of the NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology archive, specifically the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) collection. It was published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in 1992.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct past temperature or precipitation anomalies by analyzing the tree-ring width chronology as a climate proxy.
• Calibrate radiocarbon dating or validate other paleoclimate archives by cross-referencing the precisely dated tree-ring series.
• Study the growth response of Tsuga mertensiana (Mountain Hemlock) to environmental stressors over a multi-century period.
• Analyze long-term ecological trends and forest dynamics at the Crater Lake site from the recorded tree-ring parameters.

Strengths

• Covers a 385-year time period (343 to -42 BP) from a single species and location.
• Data is curated and archived by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Limitations

• The dataset is temporally stale, with a last update recorded in 1992.
• The sample size (number of tree cores or series) is unknown, which limits assessment of statistical robustness.
• Geographic coverage is limited to a single site in Oregon, USA.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) / World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology, International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB).

Collection Method

Tree-ring analysis (dendrochronology) of Tsuga mertensiana samples.

Time Range

343 to -42 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

1992-01-01

Geography

Crater Lake West High site, Oregon, United States Of America.