FINAL RADIOCARBON INVESTIGATION OF PLATLAND TREE, THE BIGGEST AFRICAN BAOBAB

Adrian PATRUT; Stephan WOODBORNE; Roxana T.  PATRUT; László RAKOSY; Grant  HALL; Ileana-Andreea  RAŢIU; Karl F.  REDEN, von

doi:10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.27

FINAL RADIOCARBON INVESTIGATION OF PLATLAND TREE, THE BIGGEST AFRICAN BAOBAB

Authors

Adrian PATRUT Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: apatrut@chem.ubbcluj. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9862-6735
Stephan WOODBORNE iThemba LABS; Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Email: swoodborne@tlabs.ac.za. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8573-8626
Roxana T. PATRUT Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: roxanapatrut@yahoo.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8691-2160
László RAKOSY Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: laszlo.rakosy@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7793-6996
Grant HALL Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Email: Grant.Hall@up.ac.za. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2164-4900
Ileana-Andreea RAŢIU Faculty of Chemstry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: andreea_ratiu84@yahoo.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-684X
Karl F. REDEN, von Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NOSAMS Facility, Woods Hole, USA. Email: kvonreden@whoi.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6413-9018

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.27

Keywords:

AMS radiocarbon dating, Adansonia digitata, tropical trees, ring-shaped structure, age determination, false cavity

Abstract

The article discloses the main results of our new investigation of Platland tree, a.k.a. Sunland baobab, the largest known African baobab. Our recent research was motivated by the three successive splits of 2016 and 2017, which determined the collapse and demise of the stems that have built the main unit of the tree. According to our new findings concerning the architecture of large and old baobabs, we established that Platland tree has a double closed-ring shaped structure and consists of two units/rings that close two separate false cavities. The larger unit was composed of five fused stems, out of which four toppled and died, while the fifth stem is already broken. The smaller unit, which is still standing, consists of three fused stems. We also determined that the larger unit had an age of 800 yr, while the smaller unit is 1100 yr old.

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STUDIA UBB CHEMIA, Volume 62 (LXII), No. 2, Tome II, June 2017

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Published

2017-06-30

How to Cite

PATRUT, A., WOODBORNE, S., PATRUT, R. T. ., RAKOSY, L., HALL, G. ., RAŢIU, I.-A. ., & REDEN, von, K. F. . (2017). FINAL RADIOCARBON INVESTIGATION OF PLATLAND TREE, THE BIGGEST AFRICAN BAOBAB. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Chemia, 62(2), 347–354. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.27