Buried Forest Research Articles

Storm-Driven Tree Exposure and Geomorphic Change: Predicting the Distribution of Preserved Late Pleistocene Tree Stumps on the Outer Alabama Continental Shelf

The Alabama Underwater or Drowned Forest is a well-preserved Late Pleistocene (dated to 72–56 ± 8 ka, 2σ) terrestrial landform on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf that provides geomorphic and ecosystem information rarely preserved during the glacial intervals. Stumps of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) trees were exposed in ∼18 m of water following Hurricane Ivan in 2004. This research investigates geomorphic changes to the Mississippi-Alabama-Florida (MAFLA) sand sheet, which presents as shore-oblique Holocene sand ridges, and the exposure and burial of tree stumps following the passage of Hurricane Sally in 2020 using repeat sidescan and bathymetric surveys (2015–2016 and 2021). Using two newly identified tree exposure areas and their geological properties, this research also hypothesized a new location where tree stumps may be outcropping. The bathymetry indicates regions with up to ∼1 m of erosion and deposition over the five years between the two surveys. Similarly, the sidescan sonar indicates changes in the location and numbers of exposed tree stumps as well as between 47,000 and 62,500 tons of sediment erosion within the study area following Hurricane Sally. The 2015 and 2016 data found 25 tree contacts whereas the 2021 survey found 76 tree contacts and only 5 of them occurred in both surveys suggesting the tree exposures are dynamic and presumably changing with the passing of large tropical cyclones. Additionally, the hypothesized exposure location had 26 newly identified tree stump contacts within a mixed texture unit along the sand-mud boundary, confirming our understanding of the geomorphic characteristics leading to the exposure of the buried forest. This research will expand the potential areas for investigations into Late Pleistocene ecosystems and landforms and their associated climatic and ecologic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico as well as in other passive continental margins.

A Study on the Improvement Plan of the Korean funeral System

본 논문은 우리나라 장례제도를 북서 유럽 선진국들의 장례제도와 사례를 비교 검토하여 우리나라의 바람직한 장례문화의 대안을 찾고자 한다. 이 논문에서 가장 핵심적인 내용은 경제적 생산성이 전혀 없는 묘지가 인구밀도 세계 3위인 우리나라의 좁은 국토를 잠식한다는 것이다. 즉 전 국토의 1%가 묘지화 되었으며, 매년 일정 면적이 묘지로 잠식되어가고 있는 실정이다. 우리나라는 좁은 국토에 매년 묘지 설치로 막대한 산림이 훼손되고 있으며, 특히 양지 바른 곳이나, 교통이 편리한 지역에 묘지가 살치 되는 바람에 국토가 효율적으로 사용되지 못하고 있다. 우리나라도 시대적인 변화에 맞추어 화장 문화가 확산되어야 한다. 그러기 위해서는 개인의 의식구조의 변화와 더불어 사회나 국가가 화장시설의 설치에 앞장서야 한다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 우리나라의 매장ㆍ화장ㆍ기타 장례제도에 대한 현황을 파악하고, 북서유럽 선진 국가들의 여러 장례제도를 열거 비교하여 우리 실정에 적합한 제도를 찾고자 한다. 이를 위해서 우리나라의 장묘문화 문제점의 원인을 세부적으로 지적하여 보고, 이에 대하여 개선을 위한 정책적 제도를 마련하고자 한다.This paper examines the funeral system of Korea and the advanced countries of Northwest Europe. The most important point in this paper is that the cemetery, which has no economic productivity. It induces the encroachment of the land. In other words, 1% of the whole country has been cemetery, and a certain area is being eroded every year by the cemetery. In Korea, a huge buried forest is damaged due to the installation of cemetery every year in a narrow territory. Especially, the graveyard is installed in a place where sunny place and traffic are convenient, and the land is not used effectively. In Korea, culture of cremation should be spread according to the change of the times. In order to do so, society or the state should take the lead in establishing cremating facilities and crypts with the change of individual consciousness structure. Therefore, in this paper, we would like to find out the current status of burial, cremation, and other funeral systems in Korea and to find out the system suitable for our situation by enumerating and comparing the funeral systems of advanced countries in Northwest Europe. For this purpose, I will point out the problems of Korean burial in detail and prepare a policy system for improvement.

Neoglacial history of Robson Glacier, British Columbia

As glaciers in the Canadian Rockies recede, glacier forefields continue to yield subfossil wood from sites overridden by these glaciers during the Holocene. Robson Glacier in British Columbia formerly extended below tree line, and recession over the last century has progressively revealed a number of buried forest sites that are providing one of the more complete records of glacier history in the Canadian Rockies during the latter half of the Holocene. The glacier was advancing ca. 5.5 km upvalley of the Little Ice Age terminus ca. 5.26 cal ka BP, at sites ca. 2 km upvalley ca. 4.02 cal ka BP and ca. 3.55 cal ka BP, and 0.5–1 km upvalley between 1140 and 1350 A.D. There is also limited evidence based on detrital wood of an additional period of glacier advance ca. 3.24 cal ka BP. This record is more similar to glacier histories further west in British Columbia than elsewhere in the Rockies and provides the first evidence for a post-Hypsithermal glacier advance at ca. 5.26 cal ka BP in the Rockies. The utilization of the wiggle-matching approach using multiple 14C dates from sample locations determined by dendrochronological analyses enabled the recognition of 14C outliers and an increase in the precision and accuracy of the dating of glacier advances.

Paleobotanical and environmental implications of a buried forest bed in northern Lower Michigan, USA

Sediments and stratigraphy at the Tower Buried Forest site provide a glimpse into the immediate post-glacial environment of northern Lower Michigan, USA. At this site, sandy glacial outwash is overlain by (1) ≈37 cm of peat associated with a wetland, above which are (2) flat-lying spruce and larch logs and branches that date between ≈10 910 and 10 340 cal years BP. Above the woody materials are ≈55–75 cm of sand, interbedded with organic muck laminae, which we interpret as local alluvium. This stratigraphic sequence is overlain by muck soil materials associated with the modern wetland. Pollen and plant macrofossil analysis of the lower peat indicate that a tundra–boreal parkland had been established here, shortly after final deglaciation. Later, Picea glauca (white spruce) , Picea mariana (black spruce), Larix laricina (larch), and Abies balsamea (balsam fir) became abundant in an open boreal forest – Spaghnum peatland. Subsequent increases in Pinus (pine) and Typha (cattail) indicate drying and possibly warming conditions. At ca. 10 340 cal years BP (or a few centuries prior), nearly two millennia after final deglaciation, water flowed across the site, possibly knocking over the trees.. Interbedded sand and muck deposits above the flat-lying logs are interpreted as alluvial deposits from this event, after which the wetland became quiescent again.

Timing of the Landslide-Dammed Lake Triggered by Earthquake, at Toyama River, Central Japan

Huge landslides triggered by strong earthquakes or torrential rains can result in unstable natural dams that pose serious risks to humans. In this study, we attempt to document the age of an ancient earthquake that produced a landslide-dammed lake. A buried forest found in the Toyama River area of the southern Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, provides evidence of this event. The dammed lake formation has been previously estimated to have occurred in AD 714. However, the age of the dam and the way it was formed have never been directly determined. To determine the position and timing of the landslide dam, we analyzed the radiocarbon content of branches and wood fragments from a brecciated deposit. We show that the 14C dating method is suitable for clarifying the timing of burial for a variety of trees, although the method does not produce a narrow age for the event. In addition to the dating, we determined the landslide dam's position and reconstructed the formation of the lake.

Paleovegetation at the Sanbe-Azukihara Cryptomeria japonica buried forest and its vicinity at ca. 3500 yrs BP, Shimane Prefecture, southwestern Japan

Paleovegetation at the Sanbe-Azukihara Cryptomeria japonica buried forest and its vicinity at ca. 3500 yrs BP, Shimane Prefecture, southwestern Japan

Radiocarbon Analysis of Tree Rings from a 15.5-Cal kyr BP Pyroclastically Buried Forest: A Pilot Study

We have determined the radiocarbon ages for 40-yr-interval tree rings in 2 fossil trees of the Towada Hachinohe buried forest, northeastern Honshu Island, Japan. The 14C ages range from 13.0 to 13.3 kyr BP (about 15.5 cal kyr BP). The weighted average of the 14C age of the outermost 5 rings is 13,133 ± 33 BP, which can be calibrated to 15,363–15,679 cal BP by using the IntCal04 standard curve (Reimer et al. 2004). The estimated δ14C values range between 265 and 300% and show approximately sinusoidal fluctuation of an indicated ∼200-yr cycle, perhaps reflecting contemporary solar activity change. Comparison between the tree 14C profile and the Cariaco Basin 14C record provides further information on the accurate date of the Towada Hachinohe buried forest and the eruption that produced it. 14C analysis of tree rings from the buried forest may contribute to the construction of a better 14C calibration curve and the elucidation of solar activity change during the last glacial period, as well as possible global and regional impacts of the huge eruption from Towada Volcano.

Late‐Holocene buried forests on the Oregon Coast

AbstractDeposits of late‐Holocene beach sand buried conifer forests episodically emerge on beaches of the Oregon coast. Simultaneously, sand dunes buried late‐Holocene forests growing on marine terraces landward of the beaches. Dune ramps, up to 60 m in elevation, connected the beach and dune deposits. The average age of wood samples from stumps rooted on the shore platforms is 3·07 ± 1·45 ka. The average age of wood and charcoal samples embedded in forest soil on the marine terraces is 3·27 ± 1·46 ka.Between 1994 and 2006, winter storm waves exposed more than 4·5 km2 of late‐Holocene forest soil on shore platforms at 19 localities. Rooted stumps without soil were uncovered at an additional 14 localities. Once exposed, wave action eroded the soil rapidly (one to two years). The intact forest soil and roots on the shore platforms must have been nearly continuously buried, protected and preserved prior to recent exposure.The late‐Holocene buried forest provides the basis for a conceptual model of coastal evolution. A three stage reversal of erosion and sand supply must have occurred: (1) wave erosion switched to seaward advancement of forests, (2) forest growth and soil development switched to burial beneath beach and dune sand and (3) burial and preservation switched to wave erosion, truncation of dune ramps and landward retreat of sea cliffs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Three buried forests of the Last Glacial Stage and middle Holocene at Ooyazawa on northern Honshu Island of Japan

Three extensive buried forests of the Late Quaternary were unearthed at Ooyazawa, Aomori, in the northern part of Honshu Island of Japan during construction of a flood water reservoir. The lower and middle buried forests were formed by activities of the Towada Volcano and dated from the early period of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Late Glacial Period, respectively. The upper buried forest was formed as a result of sea level changes and dated from the Early Jomon Period of middle Holocene. Picea and Larix dominated in the lower and middle buried forests of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Late Glacial Period, accompanied by occasional Abies. In the middle buried forest Picea and Larix grew evenly intermixed, and Larix trees were larger (up to 84 cm in stem diameter) than Picea trees (up to 33 cm in stem diameter). The taxonomic composition of the lower and middle forests was similar to that of the buried forests on the eastern slope of the Towada Volcano of the Late Glacial Period. The buried forests of northern Honshu Island, as well as those of south to central Honshu Island, indicate that Picea–Larix forests were the dominant vegetation through the Last Glacial Maximum to the Late Glacial Period on central to northern Honshu Island. In the upper buried forest of the middle Holocene, Fraxinus and Alnus dominated, accompanied by Juglans, Castanea, Quercus, Fagus, Magnolia, Hydrangea, and Acer. This upper buried forest contemporaneously formed woody peat below the forest floor. According to a pollen analytical study at Ooyazawa, similar buried forests continually established themselves after frequent destructions by flooding for at least 1000 years of middle Holocene. Lowland forests of Fraxinus and Alnus that simultaneously formed woody peat grew extensively in the Kanto Plain of central Honshu Island during the middle Holocene. The upper buried forest at Ooyazawa was the first record of this type of lowland forest outside the Kanto Plain and showed that the establishment of marsh forests with contemporaneous woody peat was a general phenomenon in a large area of Honshu Island during the middle Holocene.

A large earthquake occurring 700–800 years ago in Aialik Bay, southern coastal Alaska

A conifer forest on the shore of Verdant Cove, an inlet of Aialik Bay on the southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, was buried by high-energy beach sediments shortly after 860 ± 50 I4C years BP. The switch from ocean-distal forest to cobble beach indicates a radical change in depositional environment suggestive of rapid subsidence of 1–3.5 m. The presence of hemlock, a tree taxon sensitive to salt-water exposure, and the preserved cast of a tree trunk suggest that subsidence and burial occurred rapidly. By 690 ± 60 14C years BP, forest peat was accumulating atop the beach sediments burying the forest and rapid spit progradation was underway. Spit progradation implies land emergence or stable sea level, especially in this case where the spit has a limited sediment supply. We infer that subsidence of the spit ca. 860 ± 50 14C years BP was followed by slow land emergence up to the time of the 1964 AD great earthquake, when the area subsided coseismically 1.4 m. The sudden drowning of the buried forest in Verdant Cove was probably caused by coseismic subsidence and later emergence by gradual, interseismic uplift. Comparison of the Verdant Cove record with previously reported data from south-central Alaska suggests that the penultimate great earthquake in the rupture zone of the 1964 Alaska earthquake occurred between 700 and 800 calendric years BP.

The pre-Taupo eruption (c.AD 130) forest of the Benneydale-Pureora district, central North Island, New Zealand

Abstract The composition and structure of three small areas of west Taupo forest, blasted down and buried during the c. AD 130 Taupo tephra eruption, are revealed by analysis of plant macrofossils, including leaves, seeds and wood. Data from these three sites and from the recently described Pureora buried forest were then used to interpret the pre-eruption vegetation along a 20 kilometre transect, from Pureora westward to Benneydale. All the stands were on flat or undulating terrain and dominated by podocarps, ranging from rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum)-tanekaha. (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) at Pureora to rimu at Benneydale. Broadleaved trees increased westward; on lower hillslopes in the Benneydale buried forest, northern rata (Metrosideros robusta) was an important canopy component. An amelioration of climate with decreasing altitude westward was indicated by a gradual change from prominence of horopito (Pseudowintera colorata) at Pureora to P. axillaris at Benneydale, and the presence of rewarewa (Knigh...

Forest reconstruction from fossil wood assemblages in prehistory.

To clarify processes relevant to the formation and deposition of fossil wood assemblages, depositional pattern of fossil woods within a peat bed was studied at the Nakazato Site and the Fukuro-Teichi Site in eastern Tokyo. From the distribution of individual specimens, two different types of fossil wood assemblage have been recognized: one is a buried forest which is discovered in situ, and another is a group of trees that have fallen down into a channel from riverside banks to be deposited there. At the Nakazato Site a Fraxinus-dominant buried forest of the Late to Latest Jomon Period was discovered, and a past community was reconstructed from the distribution of individual specimens. Within the same peat bed, habitat preference of taxa was deduced from difference in composition between blocks farther away from the terrace scarp and those nearer to it. At the same site, two other assemblages of the Kofun Period and Kodai were also detected, and their composition showed strong human impact upon vegetation. At the Fukuro-Teichi Site, the latter type of assemblage was unearthed in a channel of the Late Jomon Period, and its composition strongly reflected very local vegetation beside the channel. With the recognition of processes concerning the formation of fossil wood assemblages, one can estimate the extent of information obtainable from respective assemblages.

A 426-year floating tree-ring chronology fromPhyllocladus trichomanoidesburied by the Taupo eruption at Pureora, central North Island, New Zealand

Abstract This paper presents a 426-year chronology, developed from Phyllocladus tnchomanoides D.Don cross-sections preserved in a forest buried by the Taupo eruption (c. A.D. 186) at a site in Pureora Forest Park, Central North Island, New Zealand. The chronology statistics are compared with those from four contemporary sites representing a wide range of latitudes and altitudes. The modern site most closely resembling the buried forest in these parameters was one nearby at Waihora lagoon. The large amount of common variance in the chronologies, and significant correlations between trees from both the buried forest and Waihora lagoon sites, indicate good potential for palaeoclimatic reconstruction. The stage of formation of the incomplete outer ring observed in wood from the buried forest chronology indicates that the Taupo volcano erupted in late summer or early autumn.

Composition and structure of forest overwhelmed at Pureora, central North Island, New Zealand, during the Taupo eruption (c. AD 130)

Abstract The composition and structure of forest at Pureora, overthrown and buried by pumiceous tephra during the c. AD 130 Taupo eruption, are deduced from identification of plant macrofossils. A tall, dense podocarp forest was dominated by rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides), with occasional matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) , miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) and totara (Podocarpus totara). Understorey plants included toro (Myrsine salicina), horopito (Pseudowintera colorata), Neomyrtus pedunculata, Metrosideros diffusa, crown fern (Blechnum discolor) and Leptopteris superba. Poorly drained sites were dominated by kahikatea, rimu, tanekaha, Astelia grandis, Gahnia xanthocarpa and kiekie (Freycinetia baueriana ssp. banksil) with rare bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillil) and kaikawaka (Libocedrus bidwillil)' The classification and ordination techniques applied indicated that the forest was basically of one type with minor variations reflecting drainage conditions and topography. Comparison with present-day forest revealed some major differences. Matai and rimu dominate the tall podocarp forest of adjacent Pikiariki Ecological Area, and tawa (Beifschmiedia tawa), mahoe (Melicytus ramijlorus ssp. ramijlorus), kamahi (Weinmannia racemosa) and Asplenium bulbiferum s.s. are common in the understorey or ground cover but were not recorded in the buried forest. Kiekie, Gahnia xanthocarpa and kaikawaka, on the other hand, are absent from present-day forest in the Pureora district. These species were probably casualties of the volcanic devastation, unable to return because of one or a combination of factors, including improved soil aeration, drainage and fertility, and possibly a deterioration in climate.

Age of the Buried Forest on the Iwaki River Bed in North Japan

A broadleaf tree of buried forest found on the river bed of the Iwaki is aged 2480±85 years B. P. (N-1958). First, the forest was growing in back-swamps region. At the above age, the area was covered by sand about 6m thick, and the forest was buried. Then, the area was changed to natural levee region. In the recent several years, the forest reappeared due to the lowering of river bed.