Lichenometry
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A geomorphic method of geochronologic dating that uses lichen growth to determine the age of exposed rock. uncountable
"In lichenometry, a lichen is presumed to grow radially at a specific, constant rate: this rate is used to estimate the age of the largest lichen on a rock surface, and thus the length of time the rock has been exposed."
Example
More examples"In lichenometry, a lichen is presumed to grow radially at a specific, constant rate: this rate is used to estimate the age of the largest lichen on a rock surface, and thus the length of time the rock has been exposed."
Etymology
From lichen + -metry.
More for "lichenometry"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.