We are discussing calibration of carbon dating using tree rings. The question came up...
If you are dating a particular ring, would the carbon dating give you the year the ring was formed, or the year the tree died?
Another way of saying this...Is the carbon throughout the tree being replaced throughout the tree's life?
(We understand there will be some error in the carbon dating.)
Thanx
Mobius,
Dendrochronology is the dating of deposits through the correlation of tree rings, giving a timeline with which carbon dating can be calibrated against.
In answer to your question, as with all carbon dating, the isotope used (C14) is continually being uptaken and replaced throughout the lifetime of an organism. Once that organism dies, there is no longer any further uptake of C14, which undergoes radioactive decay at a known rate (the half life). From the remaining C14, one can determine how long ago that organism died (within a tolerance range). Hope that this helps.
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