Estimates of lichen growth–rate in northern Sweden

Two lichenometric techniques were compared in a study of lichen growth–rate in northern Sweden. The first technique, based on the maximum lichen diameter on glacier moraines, was identical to the technique used in the 1970s, whereas the other utilized the lichen diameter measured on 100 randomly selected boulders. The results indicate that it does not matter which technique is chosen, as long as the technique is used consistently on both the calibration surfaces and the surfaces to be dated. The use of data from both the 1970s and the 2000s increased the number of calibration surfaces available. The new calibration curve indicates that the age of Little Ice Age moraines was underestimated by up to about 30 years in the study conducted in the 1970s.