Mötesplats Rydberg: Johannes Edvardsson - Long-term climate changes, lost art treasures, shipwrecks and avalanches - What we can date and learn from tree rings

Tuesday 27 Mar 2018, 15:15 → 16:15 Europe/Stockholm

Rydbergsalen (Fysiska institutionen-Physics Department)

Annual growth rings from trees can be used to date and study climate change, standing constructions, ship wreaks, avalanches, forest fires, flooding, pollutants, and archaeological artefacts. At the Laboratory for Wood Anatomy and Dendrochronology, Lund University, wooden items are dated on a daily basis. In this presentation, some rare items dated at the laboratory will be displayed. I will also present what it takes to cut with razors in Flemish 17th century panel paintings by masters such as Rubens, Jordaens and Van Dyck. Climate reconstructions from tree-ring width data and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ18O) preserved in the trees are important and relevant aspects in the field of tree-ring research. I will therefore present long-term reconstructions of (hydro)climatic changes and peatland ecosystem dynamics over 8000-years, using subfossil trees and peat stratigraphic records. Finally, I will also discuss what effects ongoing tree colonization on peatlands might have for our climate in the future.