
Northern Tree Habitats | Geophysical Institute
Apr 10, 2025 · Interior Alaskan forests have only six native tree species: white spruce, black spruce, quaking aspen, balsam poplar, larch (tamarack) and paper birch. Northern Canadian forests have all of those, plus jack pine, balsam fir and lodgepole pine. Since northern Canada and interior Alaska share the same grueling climate and extremes of daylength, why are the …
Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute
Apr 10, 2025 · Balsam poplar is the most widespread broadleaf tree in Alaska; it ranges even farther north and west than another close relative, the quaking aspen. Close up, it is easy to distinguish between balsam poplar and quaking aspen from the leaves and, to a lesser extent, by the branching structure.
Tree Rings and History | Geophysical Institute
Apr 3, 2025 · A tree's age can be easily determined by counting its growth rings, as any Boy or Girl Scout knows. Annually, the tree adds new layers of wood which thicken during the growing season and thin during the winter. These annual growth rings are easily discernible (and countable) in cross-sections of the tree's trunk. In good growing years, when sunlight and …
Trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators | Geophysical Institute
Apr 10, 2025 · Then using tree ring dating methods, it may be possible to date earthquakes occurring before historical records were kept. The ability to identify and date very large earthquakes occurring within the past thousand years is important in establishing earthquake risk and for predicting future earthquakes.
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute
Apr 3, 2025 · I eventually found a tree with a spiral lightning mark and it followed the spiral grain exactly. One tree, of course, proves nothing. "But why should the tree spiral? More speculation here: Foliage tends to be thicker on the south side of the tree because of better sunlight.
Kannada pocket guide for Common Avenue trees of Karnataka
Aug 8, 2019 · A citizen friendly pocket-sized book in Kannada describes commonly found avenue trees, filling the paucity of such resources in the local language while also
Mummified forest tells tale of a changing north
Jan 6, 2011 · An outcropping of mummified tree remains on Ellesmere Island in Canada. A melting glacier revealed the trees, which were buried by a landslide 2 to 8 million years ago.
Trees for a Cold Climate | Geophysical Institute
Apr 1, 1993 · Back on the ground, I did a little research on why so few tree types grow naturally in the neighborhood. Winter's extreme cold easily eliminates some tree species hardy elsewhere. Oak, ash, and elm endure occasional severely cold temperatures in the contiguous forty-eight states because they can produce chemicals that serve as natural antifreeze.
The majesty and mystery of Alaska yellow cedar
Jul 23, 2021 · Probably because of chemical compounds within the tree like nootkatin that emit the pleasant odor and tint the wood yellow, Alaska yellow cedar endures like no other tree in the state. In a 1997 paper on the endurance and possible usefulness of dead Alaska yellow-cedar trees, researchers Kent McDonald and Paul Hennon concluded it was good stuff:
Feltleaf willows: Alaska’s most abundant tree
May 25, 2023 · The most plentiful moose food in the state — and probably Alaska’s most numerous tree — is the feltleaf willow, which was once called the Alaska willow. As its name implies, the feltleaf sprouts canoe-shaped green leaves that feel fuzzy on the underside.