6,000 year old earth? Not according to this tree!

[Halcyon]

Did you watch the Living with the Mek and travel channel?

I watched three of them, amazing wasn't it?

You could see how the corruption of western civilisation is already making those Mek living nearer the towns greedy and materialistic, whereas those in the depths of the jungle were much more welcoming to outsiders (past the initial stage obviously).

 

[pray4me]

well the article said the roots were carbon dated and the picture of the tree makes it look so small. I know about counting tree rings to date their age.

 

[Halcyon]

well the article said the roots were carbon dated and the picture of the tree makes it look so small. I know about counting tree rings to date their age.

Ah, well to be honest with you I didn't read the article. I guess they did the dating on old dead tree roots.

Wow, I didn't know trees lived that long.

Well technically it hasn't, now that I've read the article , the living tree is only 600 years old at most and is a clone of a clone of a clone (etc...) of the tree that lived 9,000 years ago.

 

[pray4me]

the tree in the picture looked small wouldn't it have to be quite large to contain 600 rings?

 

[Willamena]

the tree in the picture looked small wouldn't it have to be quite large to contain 600 rings?

It's explained in the article that the tree has gone through regular periods of losing its trunk and growing a new one from the roots. Its age is determined by its roots.

 

[michel]

Introducing the worlds oldest living organism (so far)!

This otherwise unimpressive 13 ft tall Norway Spruce (yup its a christmass tree) is a remarkable 9,550 years old. Making it almost twice the age of the oldest Bristle cones of California.
Ironically it was found in Sweden not Norway.

Oldest Living Tree Found in Sweden

*As a fun side note, a stand of Huon pine (Lagarostrobus franklinii) have been dated back as clonal sprouts from an individual that took seed around 10,500 years ago.

Aren't trees amazing! :jiggy:

wa:do

You bet! I look upon trees with great respect; thanks for that little gem......

 

[painted wolf]

its called stump sprouting... and yes the roots are the main part of the plant.
Its hard to think about as the trunk and all are the bits we see, but they are just for reproduction and photosynthesis... The roots do the majority of the work and can live for quite a while without the rest of the plant.

Just because it isn't the original trunk doesn't stop the roots from being a continuous living organism.

wa:do

ps. don't judge a tree by its size. Trees grow at different rates and in harsh environments they grow slowly adding thin growth rings. (A weeping willow can grow eight feet a year while the trees on top of Mt. Washington grow to be four feet tall and can be hundreds of years old)

 

[Alceste]

Cool tree! Much liked. Long may it prosper.