Swiss Tree Ring Chronology from 260 to 36 BC

Tree ring measurements from three sites in Switzerland's Simmental region provide a 296-year climate record. The data, archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, covers the period from 260 to 36 calendar years before present. This study was published in 1986.

Use Cases

• Reconstruct annual temperature or precipitation anomalies for the Swiss Alps using the tree ring width chronology.
• Calibrate regional climate models by comparing the tree ring proxy data against known historical climate events within the 296-year period.
• Analyze growth response functions to identify the dominant climatic factor (e.g., summer temperature, precipitation) limiting tree growth at the St. Stephan, Gyr, and Simmental sites.
• Cross-date archaeological wood samples from the region by matching their ring patterns against this established master chronology.

Strengths

• Covers a continuous 296-year period from 260 to 36 BC.
• Data is sourced from multiple tree sites (Simmental, St. Stephan, Gyr) within a defined region.

Limitations

• The dataset is temporally stale, with no updates since its publication in 1986.
• Geographic coverage is limited to a specific region in Switzerland, Western Europe.
• The exact sample size (number of tree cores) and measurement parameters are not specified in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology).

Time Range

260 to -36 calendar years BP (Before Present, where present=1950), equivalent to approximately 260 BC to 36 BC.

Freshness

1986-01-01

Geography

Switzerland, Western Europe (specific sites: Simmental, St. Stephan, Gyr).