archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

, and

geomorphology Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand wh ...

, lichenometry is a geomorphic method of geochronologic dating that uses

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

growth to determine the age of exposed rock, based on a presumed specific rate of increase in radial size over time.Lichens in relation to management issues in the Sierra Nevada national parks, McCune, B., J. Grenon, and E. Martin, L. Mutch, Sierra Nevada Network, Cooperative agreement CA9088A0008. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Three Rivers, California

/ref> Measuring the diameter of the largest lichen of a species on a rock surface can therefore be used to determine the length of time the rock has been exposed. Lichen can be preserved on old rock faces for up to 10,000 years, providing the maximum age limit of the technique, but it is most accurate (within 10% error) when applied to surfaces that have been exposed for less than 1,000 years. (The practical limit of the technique might be 4,000 to 5,000 years.) Lichenometry is especially useful for dating surfaces less than 500 years old, as radiocarbon dating techniques are less accurate over this period. The lichens most commonly used for lichenometry are those of the genera '' Rhizocarpon'' (such as the species ''

Rhizocarpon geographicum ''Rhizocarpon geographicum'' (the map lichen) is a species of lichen, which grows on rocks in mountainous areas of low air pollution. Each lichen is a flat patch bordered by a black line of fungal hyphae. These patches grow adjacent to each other ...

'') and '' Xanthoria''. The measured growth rates of ''R. geographicum'' tends to fall within the range of 0.9–0.3 millimeter per year, depending on several factors, including the size of the lichen patch. The technique was first employed by Knut Fægri in 1933, though the first exclusively lichenometric paper was not published until 1950, by Austrian Roland Beschel, in a paper concerning the European

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

Scope and limitations

Lichenometry can provide dates for

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

deposits in

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

environments, lake level changes, glacial

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s, trim lines, palaeofloods, rockfalls, seismic events associated with the rockfalls, talus (

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. The term ''scree'' is ap ...

) stabilization and former extent of

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

or very persistent snow cover. It has also been explored as a tool in assessing the speed of glacier retreat due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Among the potential problems of the technique are the difficulty of correctly identifying the species, the delay between exposure and colonization, the varying growth rates from region to region, growth rates not always being constant over time and depend on substrate texture and composition, the climate, and determining the lichen that is the largest.

Methods

'' Xanthoria elegans'' was one of the first lichens used for lichenometry. Several methods exist for dating surfaces with help of lichenometry; the most simple relies on a single largest lichen though other methods use more. There are also differences in the way the lichen is measured; some scientists suggest that the largest

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

should be measured, but others prefer the diameter of the largest inscribed circle. A problem in dating lichens is the fact that several thalli can fuse together, making several minor lichens appears as a larger one of older age.Lichen, Lichenometry and Global Warming
The lichenometrist Tom Bradwell has listed the following five method families as the principal ones into which most other methods can be classified: *Largest lichen (LL): When the single largest lichen of a species is used it means that the lichen that is oldest or grows in most favorable conditions is used to date the minimum age of the exposed surface. This was the original lichenometric from which others then developed or used as reference. Despite relying upon a single lichen this technique is praised for its simplicity and allows obtaining an image of the age of rock exposure while still in the field. *Largest five lichens (5LL): This method is a development of the LL and was developed in the 1970s to avoid reliance on one single potentially anomalous lichen. It has been proved that neither accuracy nor precision improves significantly by having more than five lichens. *Fixed-area largest lichen (FALL): This technique was initially specially designed for dating rockfalls and talus cones with no uniform age of deposition. The largest

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

in a unit area is measured. The sample areas are usually boulders with surfaces of about 1 m². *Size-frequency approach (SF): The analysis of size and frequency of lichens was initially done in order to study lichen populations and preexisting thalli growing on surfaces, but has since been used as an effective absolute and relative dating method. *Lichen cover approach (LC): This method works with the premise of that the area covered by a single species will increase over time, and by measuring the total area percentage covered by a certain lichen species the age of exposure can be inferred.

Scope and limitations

Methods

References

Further reading