Tree ring dating (dendrochronology) 1
It is clear that dendrochronology is not a clear-cut, objective dating method despite the extravagant claims of some of its advocates. 1
The great ages claimed for individual BCPs are based on the assumption that the trees grew no more than one ring per year. These ‘ages’, generating a master chronology of 8,700 years, are plainly contradictory to the biblical timeframe. Upon close scrutiny there is strong evidence that multiplicity of ring formation is common under the environmental conditions where the trees grow that are used in the master chronology. Thus the assumptions behind the great ages are not correct. The number of growth rings produced by BCPs seems to be more a function of the soil water status of the area in which the BCPs grow: the drier the environment, the more rings are produced. Multiplicity of growth rings and the strip growth habit are possibly physiological mechanisms for conserving water in dry conditions. Studies that have sought to prove annularity in BCPs have not used a correct methodology or timeframe, and more suitable experimental methods have been proposed. In investigating direct evidence for multiplicity, the effect of environmental conditions needs to be accounted for. Once again, uniformitarian assumptions about the constancy of rates in the past are shown to be too simplistic, and the biblical timeframe can accommodate the data. 2
1. https://creation.com/tree-ring-dating-dendrochronology
2. Evidence for multiple ring growth per year in Bristlecone Pines
It is clear that dendrochronology is not a clear-cut, objective dating method despite the extravagant claims of some of its advocates. 1
The great ages claimed for individual BCPs are based on the assumption that the trees grew no more than one ring per year. These ‘ages’, generating a master chronology of 8,700 years, are plainly contradictory to the biblical timeframe. Upon close scrutiny there is strong evidence that multiplicity of ring formation is common under the environmental conditions where the trees grow that are used in the master chronology. Thus the assumptions behind the great ages are not correct. The number of growth rings produced by BCPs seems to be more a function of the soil water status of the area in which the BCPs grow: the drier the environment, the more rings are produced. Multiplicity of growth rings and the strip growth habit are possibly physiological mechanisms for conserving water in dry conditions. Studies that have sought to prove annularity in BCPs have not used a correct methodology or timeframe, and more suitable experimental methods have been proposed. In investigating direct evidence for multiplicity, the effect of environmental conditions needs to be accounted for. Once again, uniformitarian assumptions about the constancy of rates in the past are shown to be too simplistic, and the biblical timeframe can accommodate the data. 2
1. https://creation.com/tree-ring-dating-dendrochronology
2. Evidence for multiple ring growth per year in Bristlecone Pines
