RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY LARGE AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA:  INVESTIGATION OF THE SAGOLE BIG TREE

Adrian  PATRUT; Roxana T.  PATRUT; Robert  PELT, van; Daniel A.  LOWY; Edit FORIZS; Jenő BODIS; Dragos  MARGINEANU; Karl F.  REDEN, von

doi:10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.28

RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY LARGE AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA: INVESTIGATION OF THE SAGOLE BIG TREE

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
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
Robert PELT, van Institute for Redwood Ecology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, United States. Email: abies2@u.washington.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7036-4032
Daniel A. LOWY Valor Hungariae, Department of Science and Innovation, Budapest, Hungary. Corresponding author: apatrut@chem.ubbcluj. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-6757
Edit FORIZS Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: eforizs@chem.ubbcluj.ro.
Jenő BODIS Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: jbodis@chem.ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7080-124X
Dragos MARGINEANU Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University; Raluca Ripan Institute for Research in Chemistry, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: dmargi@chemubbcluj.ro.
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/0000-0002-8691-2160

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.28

Keywords:

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

Abstract

The article reports the AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating results of Sagole Big tree, a giant African baobab from Limpopo, South Africa. Several wood samples were collected from the walls of its inner cavity and dated by radiocarbon. The age values along the cavity samples increase with the distance into the wood. This anomaly shows that the cavity is a false one. The oldest sample segment had a radiocarbon date of 781 ± 29 bp, which corresponds to a calibrated age of 740 ± 15 yr. We estimate that the oldest part of the Sagole baobab has an age of 800-900 yr. We determined that the tree has a closed ring-shaped structure, which consists of a large unit with six fused stems and of two additional leaning stems.

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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. ., PATRUT, R. T. ., PELT, van , R. ., LOWY, D. A. ., FORIZS, E., BODIS, J., … REDEN, von, K. F. . (2017). RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY LARGE AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA: INVESTIGATION OF THE SAGOLE BIG TREE. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Chemia, 62(2), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2017.2.28