Valaam Island Tree Ring Chronology for Climate Reconstruction

Tree ring width data from Scots pine on Valaam Island, Russia, spans 277 years from 235 to -42 calendar years before present. The dataset was archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology and last updated in 1992. It is part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank, contributed by researcher Schweingruber.

Use Cases

• Calibrate climate models using tree ring width as a proxy for past temperature or precipitation in Eastern Europe.
• Analyze growth anomaly years within the 277-year chronology to identify volcanic or climatic events.
• Cross-date archaeological wood samples from the region using the established Scots pine chronology.
• Study the response of PISY (Pinus sylvestris) to environmental stressors over a multi-century timeframe.

Strengths

• Chronology covers 277 years of continuous annual data.
• Data is part of the curated International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB).
• Sourced from a single species (Scots pine) at a specific site, reducing ecological noise.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage ends 42 years before present (circa 1990), limiting modern comparison.
• Sample size and replication statistics for individual years are unknown.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single island site in Russia.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Tree ring cores collected and measured using standard dendrochronological techniques.

Time Range

235 to -42 calendar years BP (spanning 277 years).

Freshness

Last updated in 1992; static archive dataset.

Geography

Valaam Island, Russia, Eastern Europe.