2. Using tree rings for undergraduate (and other) research projects Tree ringsa source of accessible data Equipment and tools needed for tree ring studies Simple procedures for analyzing tree rings Examples of research by CC students Research with high school science teachers via the Murdock Partners in Science programMurdock Partners in Science Wrap up: pluses and minuses

3. A short film intro… http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthsci ence/index.html http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthsci ence/index.html From the core …a film by Laura Griffiths about a tree-ring project done in her Weather and Climate classFrom the core

4. Light rings and the volcano/sulfurous aerosols connection AD 1601 Briffa etal, Nature, v. 393. 6/4/98 [proxy temp from low density tree rings] Core from a 750-year old Douglas-fir at Cougar Rock Campground, Mount Rainier NP, ~3,500 Low density light ring

5. Subfossil snag in Hidden Lake outlet Zigzag River, 1781 outer Mt. Hood: outer rings of two bark- bearing trees cross dated to A.D. 1781 (Pringle et al, 2002, 2010) PDSI --Gedalov, Peterson, & Mantua, 2004.

6. Cross dating Andrew Douglass Markers are narrow rings, light rings (low density), etc Light rings (low density): 1347, 1371, 1395, 1438, 1448, 1509, 1560, 1579? 1601, 1641, 1696, 1724, 1730, 1742, 1801, 1806, 1809, 1893

7. Simple methodologies Evaluation via microscope and list method (Yamaguchi, 1991); narrow, light, and other marker rings Skeleton plot using 2mm graph paper (LTRR has a great tutorial under for educators)LTRR Measuring rings using scanned images (grayscale) and free image analysis software (ImageJ…scan at 1600 dpi or better if possible) More complicated analysis tools: statistical software, isotopes, etc…see LDEO softwareLDEO software

8. Selected information and data resources http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/ The science of tree rings this is a terrific gateway site developed by Henri Grissino Mayer http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/treering.htmlhttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/treering.html NOAA tree- ring database…data in several formats Tree-ring labs: LDEO, LTRR, HTRR, CCTRR, BTRRL at PSULDEOLTRRHTRRCCTRRBTRRL ArchivesArchives of the tree-ring discussion forum Bibliography of dendrochronology NOAA global tree-ring databasetree-ring database

9. Example skeleton plots on 2mm graph paper.

10. Scanners Epson expression 1680, ~ $800 Epson 10000XL, ~ $3,000 Hardware resolution: 1600 x 3200 dpi Hardware resolution: 2400 x 4800 dpi Scan area (max) 8.5" x 11.7" (216mm x 297mm) Scan area (max) 12.2" x 17.2" Scanning software: Mac Image Capture or Vuescan (PC, but runs on a Mac)

11. Using ImageJ to measure rings

12. Subsidence or inundation drowning [no ls] Fault-dammed lake Landslide-dammed lake Lava-dammed lake Burial in lahar-, debris flow-, or flood-aggraded valleys Burial in landslide deposit, till, or dunes Timberline snags (subaerial preservation) Spider Lake, SE Olympic Mountains – during 1992 drought; trees died ~ 1100 yr BP Settings for preservation of subfossil trees

13. WA: Locations of subfossil trees (dots) with respect to faults (lavender), volcanic hazard zones (brown), and landslides (green) Graphic by Pat Pringle

14. Glacier Lake MP 126 landslide Knupenberg Lake Packwood Lake Bonneville landslide Packwood Mount Adams Mount Rainier Mount St. Helens Knupenberg Lake MP 126 landslide Glacier Lake Packwood Lake Glacier Lake Landslide deposit SW WA Cascade Range landslides…student research focused on minimum age of Glacier Lake

15. Subfossil trees near Puget Lowland…student research focused on comparing tree rings w/ similar 14C dates

16. Intertidal area of Woodland Creek at Henderson Inlet near Olympia Subfossil trees ~2300 yr B.P. Pount Wilson ~2,300 yr B.P. stump intertidal zone Above: Church Mtn rockslide ~2,300 yr B.P. Pount Wilson ~2,300 yr B.P. ~2,300 yr B.P. sites in and near Puget Lowland

17. An increment borer is used by Colleen to take a core sample of the tree. At Glacier Lake we wanted to assess the age of the oldest trees atop the landslide to help estimate a minimum age.

18. Christina and Colleen preparing to extract a core from an increment borer

19. Gluing the core down.

20. Sanding the corefinishing with 2000-grit sandpaper for a fine polish.

21. Visual examination of the rings with a stereo microscope

22. Centralia College students at the poster session of the Northwest Scientific Association Annual Meeting, Portland State Univ., March 2013 Christina Williams (top center) discusses the poster with Megan Walsh and Serrafina Ferri of Central WA Univ. Right: Colleen Suter talks with Katie Glew, 2011–2013 President of the Northwest Scientific Assoc. at her poster.

23. 2nd Annual South Sound Undergraduate Geoscience Research Conference, Univ. of Puget Sound, April 19, 2013 Colleen discusses her poster with Kena Fox- Dobbs of UPS while Michelle Kearns looks on.

24. Fame and fortuneBeing interviewed for the Alumni Newsletter by Ed Riley

25. Above: 1995 Emerald Downs racetrack excavation at Auburn. -subfossil trees buried by andesitic sand. Stump dated at 1,080 yr B.P. Below: andesitic sand at Port of Seattle New project: Buried forests of the Duwamish and Puyallup River valleys

26. Eruption, earthquake(s), buried trees, and the mythology of the Puget Lowland ~1100 yr B.P.Can tree-rings shed light on the nature and timing of geologic events and place-specific stories? Do buried trees at Fife correlate with those at Auburn? How the whales reached the sea IN, Arthur C. Ballard, the Mythology of Southern Puget Sound Right, Michelle Kearns evaluates rings of subfossil trees from Fife and Auburn, ~1,100 yr B.P. in age.

27. Tree rings, the plus and minus side Plus: students get it; wide applications, data attainable online or locally, relevant to ongoing Earth changes of concern Minus: some tools (e.g. borers) costly and delicate; work can be time consuming and labor intensive

28. M.J. Murdock Partners in ScienceMurdock Partners in Science 2002: Russ Weaver, Heritage High School: Use of dendrochronology to date and better understand the Bonneville landslide, Columbia River Gorge, Washington 2006: Jo Martens, Centralia HS: Use of Radiocarbon Dating and Dendrochronology to Investigate a Submerged Forest in Eld Inlet, Washington 2011: Chris Hedeen, Oregon City HS: Assessing the age of the ghost forest: evidence for the 1781 Mount Hood eruption in the White River basin Partnering in research with high school Science Teachers, my research partners are listed below

29. Right: looking west at the ghost forest along the upper east rim of the White River canyon from Timberline Lodge parking area; Below: USGS hazards map Partners in Science Project: evaluating the ghost forest of Whitebark Pines at Mount Hood volcano

30. Pringle, Patrick T.; Williams, Christina A., 2013, What geologic event(s) killed the circa 2,300 yr B.P. submerged or buried subfossil trees at multiple sites in and near the Puget Lowland, Washington USA? [abstract]: Northwest Scientific Association, Annual Meeting, 84th, 69– 70. [Accessed May 21, 2013 at http://www.northwestscience.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1578186 ; poster accessed at http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthscience/pubs/pringle_williams_poster_23 00_ybp_trees_nwsa_2013.pdf] http://www.northwestscience.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1578186 http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthscience/pubs/pringle_williams_poster_23 00_ybp_trees_nwsa_2013.pdf Suter, Colleen; Pringle, Patrick Patrick T.; Schuster, Robert L., 2013, New environmental and radiocarbon evidence for the ages of two Holocene landslide-dammed lakes in the southern Washington Cascade Range, USA [abstract]: Northwest Scientific Association, Annual Meeting, 84th, p. 78–79. [Accessed May 21, 2013 at http://www.northwestscience.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1578186 ; poster accessed at http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthscience/pubs/suter_pringle_glacierlak e_nwsa_2013.pdf ] http://www.northwestscience.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1578186 http://www.centralia.edu/academics/earthscience/pubs/suter_pringle_glacierlak e_nwsa_2013.pdf

31. Riding the trolley in Portland at the NWSA meeting 2013