TREE RING STUDIES

The studies looking into the tree ring data was very important in determining the age of the dunes because scientists were able to look at the exact ages of the trees, and the trees can be used a good indicator of the age of the dunes.  Since the largest and, in most cases the, oldest trees are no older than the dune system itself, there can be speculation as to how much time it would take the trees to begin to colonize the individual dunes linking the age of the dunes to the age of the trees (Goff and Wells, 2006).  The colonies of trees forming on the dunes followed a very similar pattern, spreading from the former dune very rapidly to the newly formed dune from the leeward side to the seaward side of each dune.  The spread of the colonies, in most cases was very fast, with no discernible age difference between the landward trees and the seaward trees (Goff and Wells, 2006); the growth pattern has been witnessed in the recent dune building periods, such as the 1717 and the 1826 episodes.