(m)
SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- The world's largest tree, a 275-foot (84-meter) giant sequoia, is significantly younger than previously estimated, with scientists saying on Thursday it may only be about 2,000 years old.
The tree in California's Sequoia National Park, dubbed "General Sherman" in 1879 by admirers of the U.S. Civil War general, was once thought to be 6,000 years old.
But research ecologist Nate Stephenson of the United States Geological Survey said new tree-ring estimates of the tree's age had shaved off as much as 4,000 years.
"The Sherman tree isn't so large because it's exceptionally old, but because it's growing so fast," Stephenson said in a news release.
General Sherman is not the tallest tree in the world, a title that goes to "the Mendocino Tree," an 800-year-old redwood tree which towers more than 367 feet (112 meters) above the forest floor near the northern California town of Ukiah.
But the huge sequoia is widely believed to be the biggest, measuring some 30 feet (9 meters) across at its base and having a total bulk more than 10 times that of a blue whale.
MESSAGE BOARD
Environmental issues
Stephenson said that research on sequoias showed that the largest trees are not necessarily the oldest, with tree rings cut in stumps smaller than the Sherman tree indicating ages of more than 3,200 years.
General Sherman, however, is still growing fast, adding enough wood each year to make a tree one-foot (30 cm) in diameter 100 feet (30 meters) taller.
Stephenson reached his conclusions about the tree's age by taking tree-ring measurements from pencil-thin core samples of wood taken from near General Sherman's base.
"The new Sherman tree-age estimate of about 2,150 years could still be off by centuries," Stephenson said, adding that further study was hampered by concern over the effects of expanded core sample drilling into the tree.
"Most of the largest sequoias are really just middle-aged," Stephenson said. "But they're still growing like teenagers -- at a fast and furious rate."
2007-03-22 19:15:05
·
answer #1
·
answered by mallimalar_2000 7
·
2⤊
0⤋
The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park is the largest (by volume) tree in the world.
2007-03-23 08:36:49
·
answer #2
·
answered by Shemit 6
·
0⤊
0⤋
A Sequoia named General Sherman. The tree is 272 feet (83 m) tall with a trunk measuring 35 feet (11 m) in diameter and 109 feet (33 m) in circumference at the base. It contains and estimated 600,000 board feet of timber, (enough to build 120 average-sized houses), and weighs nearly 1400 tons (the equivalent to 15 adult blue whales, 10 diesel-electric train locomotives, or 25 average-sized military battle tanks).
2007-03-23 01:53:07
·
answer #3
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
not too many know this but beside Sequoia (the largest single stem tree) there is the Pando tree.
Pando is a clonal colony of of a single male Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree located in the U.S. state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism by identical genetic markers, and one massive underground root system.
The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,615 tons (six million kilograms), placing it as the heaviest known organism in existence. The root system of Pando is estimated to be among the oldest known living organisms in existence at 80,000 years of age.
2007-03-23 14:53:11
·
answer #4
·
answered by ED 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
I believe the Mountain Ash in Victoria Australia,but could be very close to the Sequoia in America. By that I mean they are the tallest.
2007-03-23 01:49:58
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
the biggest tree in the world is theRED WOOD TREE OR THE RED TREE.........it is found in america and is more than 1000 years old....it is almost the hieght of a space ship......it is so broad that pass ways are made through it ..........BYEEEEEEEEEEE
2007-03-23 05:34:28
·
answer #6
·
answered by Smart Gal 2
·
0⤊
1⤋
Baobab.
2007-03-23 01:48:25
·
answer #7
·
answered by saumitra s 6
·
0⤊
0⤋
Sequioa.....Giant redwood
2007-03-23 07:50:24
·
answer #8
·
answered by Ron B. 7
·
0⤊
0⤋