Grand Canyon Tree Ring Chronology from 150 to -45 BP

Tree ring parameters from a Ponderosa Pine (PIPO) site at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The chronology covers a 195-year period from 150 to -45 calendar years before present. Data is archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Use Cases

• Calibrate climate models using tree ring width as a proxy for past precipitation or temperature in Arizona.
• Analyze growth anomalies in the PIPO chronology to identify volcanic eruption years or regional drought events.
• Cross-date archaeological wood samples from the Colorado Plateau using the established ITRDB AZ560 master chronology.
• Reconstruct streamflow history for the Colorado River basin using the North Rim tree ring series.

Strengths

• 195-year continuous chronology from 150 to -45 BP
• Part of the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) with standardized metadata

Limitations

• Single-site data from one tree species limits regional representativeness
• Chronology ends 45 years before present, lacking modern instrumental overlap
• Data record last updated in 1995, lacking contemporary revisions

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Dendrochronological analysis of Ponderosa Pine tree cores

Time Range

150 to -45 calendar years before present

Freshness

null

Geography

Basin Area, North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA