
Tropical Fossils in Alaska - Geophysical Institute
4 days ago · Paleobotanist Jack A. Wolfe of the United States Geological Survey at Menlo Park, California, has found a number of tropical rain forest fossils along the eastern Gulf of Alaska. These include several kinds of palms, Burmese lacquer trees, mangroves and trees of the type that now produce nutmeg and Macassar oil.
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral - Geophysical Institute
Mar 7, 2025 · Granted, not all trees exhibit the same twist, but the majority of them do. The phenomenon can be likened to the claim that water will always spiral out of a drain in a counter-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere. It is well known that you can make it spiral out in either direction, if you give it a little shove first.
Feltleaf willows: Alaska’s most abundant tree
May 25, 2023 · The range of the feltleaf willow, probably the most numerous tree in Alaska. From Alaska Trees and Shrubs by Les Viereck and Elbert L. Little, Jr.
Trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators - Geophysical Institute
Mar 7, 2025 · Trees along faults often are killed by drowning because the faults tend to collect normal drainage water. In some instances, there are widespread tree kills caused by general subsidence. Killed by sinking caused in the great 1964 Alaskan earthquake, firmly stark forests of dead trees stand guard around the shore of upper Turnagain Arm, near ...
Tree line changes on the Kenai Peninsula | Geophysical Institute
Feb 6, 2008 · The changes in Kenai Peninsula trees might be due to the milder weather the peninsula, along with most of Alaska, has experienced since about 1977, when ocean-surface temperatures in the North Pacific warmed. Climatologists with the Alaska Climate Research Center report that the Homer area warmed 4.2 degrees Fahrenheit on average from 1949 to …
The majesty and mystery of Alaska yellow cedar
Mar 7, 2025 · These trees, which can live longer than 1,000 years, grow on the rainy coast from the Oregon/California border through British Columbia and as far north as Prince William Sound. The giants have in many areas died in large numbers, puzzling scientists who later came up with a non-intuitive theory of what killed them.
Fast-Growing Trees - Geophysical Institute
Feb 13, 2025 · Gregory and Wilson found that trees in both areas formed the same number of tracheids but that the white spruce in Alaska produced most of these cells in about one-half as much time as it took the trees in Massachusetts. In other words, the cambium in Alaskan trees was producing tracheids at a rate twice that of the Massachusetts trees.
Growing Fruit Trees - Geophysical Institute
Mar 7, 2025 · Trees survive winter conditions in two ways--by ceasing growth in the declining days of summer and by hardening, which changes tissues from tender to tough. In fruit trees, different parts of the plant stop growth at different times. Vigorous shoots may continue to elongate later in the season than the buds.
The Kodiak Treeline - Geophysical Institute
Mar 7, 2025 · Spruce trees planted on the islands by the Russians in 1805 are doing just fine and reseeding themselves naturally, although the total tree population hardly amounts to a forest. In recent years, trees have been planted at military bases along the chain, and the State is now shipping out seedlings for reforestation projects all over Alaska.
Tamarack -- Not A Dead Spruce - Geophysical Institute
Mar 7, 2025 · Tamarack commonly grows on cold, wet sites and its growth rate and appearance do little to stimulate interest. When one of these trees finds itself on a better site, however, it shows a remarkable change of pace. Individual tamarack growing in white spruce stands may achieve a size comparable to white spruce 100 to 150 years old.