Fort Providence Tree Ring Chronology from 121 to -38 BP

Tree ring width measurements from a site near Fort Providence in Canada's Northwest Territories provide a paleoclimate record. The chronology spans 159 years, from 121 to -38 calendar years before present. The dataset was archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and last updated in 1988.

Use Cases

• Calibrate climate models by correlating tree ring width variations with temperature or precipitation reconstructions.
• Analyze growth anomaly years within the 159-year chronology to identify extreme past climate events.
• Compare this Fort Providence site chronology with other ITRDB series to assess regional climate signals.
• Reconstruct past growing season conditions for Northwestern Canada using the tree ring proxy.

Strengths

• Chronology spans a specific 159-year period (121 to -38 BP).
• Data is curated and archived by the authoritative NOAA/NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.
• Part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB), a standardized global collection.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is relatively short (159 years) for long-term climate trend analysis.
• Data is geographically limited to a single site in the Northwest Territories.
• The dataset has not been updated since 1988, potentially missing newer methodological refinements.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring core samples analyzed via dendrochronology to create a width measurement chronology.

Time Range

121 to -38 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

Last updated in 1988; static historical archive.

Geography

Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, Canada.