This tree had been cut down after being damaged by a storm. This picture shows the cross-section of the tree, and by counting the rings we can see just how old this tree is! What I find interesting is that although the thinner rings would suggest less growth in that year compared with the wider ones, we would need to calculate the height of the tree at the time (and therefore the volume) to truly understand its growth. The rings near the centre are certainly wider than the outer ones, so does that suggest that the tree ““grew more”” in the earlier years? We could approximate the volume of the tree at any particular age by assuming it’s a cylinder and then measuring the diameter/radius of each ring. The maths that can be done with this old log!
