You find an old tree stump in a forest and would like to use it for tree-ring analysis,but you don't know when the tree was cut down.The best way to establish dates for the analysis is to:
A)compare patterns in the tree rings to ring chronologies sampled from nearby trees on known dates.
B)submit the tree stump to carbon-14 dating analysis.
C)estimate the age of the tree stump based on the level of decay it has experienced.
D)assign small rings to years of known droughts.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The best way to determine the age of the tree stump is to compare patterns in the tree rings to known ring chronologies from nearby trees. This method is called cross-dating and is the most reliable way to determine the age of a tree using its rings. Carbon-14 dating is expensive and not necessary in this case, estimating the age based on decay is subjective and not accurate, and assigning small rings to known droughts may not accurately reflect the age of the tree.

You Find an Old Tree Stump in a Forest and Would