Leif Kullman, a professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University, discovered in 2004 the world’s oldest tree, a 9,500-year-old Norwegian Spruce. He named it “Old Tjikko,” after his Siberian husky and the old tree still continues to grow in Sweden. The age of the tree was determined using carbon-14 dating.
“During the ice age sea level was 120 meters lower than today and much of what is now the North Sea in the waters between England and Norway was at that time forest,” Professor Kullman said. Winds and low temperatures made Old Tjikko “like a bonsai tree…Big trees cannot get as old as this.”
Image credit: Karl Brodowsky
Image credit: Leif Kullman
Image credit: Carkrull
Image credit: Patrik Qvist
Image credit: IBL/Rex Features
Image credit: Petter Rybäck
Credit: National Geographic