RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY OLD AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM SAVÉ VALLEY, ZIMBABWE

Adrian  PATRUT; Laszlo  RAKOSY; Roxana T.  PATRUT; Ileana-Andreea  RAŢIU; Edit  FORIZS; Daniel A.  LÖWY; Dragoș  MĂRGINEANU; Karl F. REDEN, von

RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY OLD AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM SAVÉ VALLEY, ZIMBABWE

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
Laszlo RAKOSY Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: laszlo.rakosy@ubbcluj.ro. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7793-6996
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
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
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.
Daniel A. LÖWY Valor Hungariae, Department of Science and Innovation, Budapest, Hungary. Corresponding author: apatrut@chem.ubbcluj. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-6757
Dragoș MĂRGINEANU 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/0000-0001-6413-9018

Keywords:

AMS radiocarbon dating, Adansonia digitata, tropical trees, dendrochronology, age determination

Abstract

The article reports the radiocarbon investigation results of the Humani Bedford baobab, an old African baobab from Savé Valley, Zimbabwe. Two wood samples were collected from the large inner cavity. Several segments were extracted from these samples and analysed by AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating. We found that the age values of segments increase with the distance into the wood. This major anomaly is characteristic to multi-stemmed baobabs with a closed ring-shaped structure and a false cavity inside. The investigation of the Humani Bedford baobab evinced that the baobab consists of three fused stems. The fourth stem of the ring is missing. The oldest dated segment was found to have a radiocarbon date of 1655 ± 14 bp, which corresponds to a calibrated age of 1575 ± 30 yr. The dating results show that the stems which build the ring stopped growing toward the false cavity more than 600 yr ago. By considering the position of the oldest segment in the investigated stem, we concluded that the Humani Bedford baobab is around 1800 yr old. According to our dating results, the Humani Bedford baobab becomes the oldest living African baobab.

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STUDIA UBB CHEMIA, Volume 61 (LXI), No. 4, December 2016

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Published

2016-12-30

How to Cite

PATRUT, A. ., RAKOSY, L. ., PATRUT, R. T. ., RAŢIU, I.-A. ., FORIZS, E. ., LÖWY, D. A. ., … REDEN, von, K. F. (2016). RADIOCARBON DATING OF A VERY OLD AFRICAN BAOBAB FROM SAVÉ VALLEY, ZIMBABWE. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Chemia, 61(4), 7–20. Retrieved from https://studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/chemia/article/view/8375