Redwood Cross-Section of Time - Felton, California
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 02.365 W 122° 03.799
10S E 583300 N 4099655
Near the visitor center at Henry Cowell State Park, a cross-section of a coast redwood from Humboldt County is displayed.
Waymark Code: WMJ0GD
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/05/2013
Views: 2
This large coastal redwood (
sequoia sempervirens) cross-section is located in
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. A nearby sign tells us:
Harvested in 1934, the tree that produced this cross-section was one of the oldest known coast redwoods. It sprouted and began to grow more than 2,200 years ago in Humboldt County. At that time around the world, construction was underway on the wonders of the ancient world. It was the age of the Great Wall of China, the preMayan Sun Temple at Teotihhuacan and the gladiator of the Roman Empire.
Like the pages of a book, the rings of a tree tell a story. Since a tree produces a new ring every year, its age can be discovered by counting its rings. Tree rings also reveal changes in climate such as plentiful rainfall or drought. With enough rain a tree will produce more growth and the tree ring will be wider. Tree rings carry information about other changes in the environment like insect attack and floods. Even burn scars from fires can be seen in rings.
Several metal labels are located at different rings of the tree, indicating events that happened the year that that ring was formed. Those events are:
- 1 Birth of Jesus/Modern Calender (sic) begins
- 105 Chinese invented paper
- 455 Mayan City Chichen Itza founded
- 919 Gunpowder discovered in China
- 1190 Lodestone Compass changes ability to navigate
- 1215 Magna Carta signed
- 1440 First Printing Press invented
- 1519 Magellan's Voyage around the World begins
- 1564 Birth of Shakespeare and Galileo
- 1620 Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth Rock
- 1769 First mission established in San Diego
- 1804 Beginning of Lewis & Clark Expedition
- 1846 John C. Fremont walks in this redwood grove
- 1859 Darwin's "Origin of Species" published
- 1902 Big Basin established as a State Park
- 1934 Tree fell in Humboldt County