Previously Funded Projects
QRC members lead and participate in a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research projects from the study of past earth climates and glaciations to shifts in the geographic distributions and evolution of vegetation and faunal communities, to the evolution and dispersals of the genus Homo and the increasing scales of human modification of earth environments through the Holocene. QRC provides a venue for meeting and collaborating with scholars across Quaternary disciplines. We are also fortunate to be able to provide seed funding and small grants for member research projects. We are especially happy to support grad student and junior scholar research activities, much of which leads to larger, external funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation.
-
The Oso landslide 10 years On
-
Illuminating Denali Basal Ice stratigraphy with Electrical Conductivity Measurements
Abstract: North Pacific ice cores have provided critical insights into climate in a region where paleoproxies on >1000-year timescales are difficult to acquire. The Denali ice cores have been particularly impactful, with a robust timescale and demonstrated sensitivity to many critical climate, environmental, and human processes. Until recently the analysis of this record has been limited to the past 1200 years. New data indicates the bottom 10 m of the cores may contain a whole-Holocene record of climate variability. However, developing an accurate timescale for this old and highly compressed ice remains difficult. Here we propose to employ Electrical Conductivity Measurements (ECM) to resolve stratigraphy in remaining core samples. Our goal will be to understand if irregularities in the current timescale are caused by ice folding, or if another process, like climate shifts in the early Holocene, must be responsible. In addition to contributing to the Denali project directly, this work will fit into an ice core community effort to develop techniques extending ice core timescales in basal and disturbed ice.Report: pending
-
Late pre-Hispanic and colonial era roads in Bogota (Colombia)
Abstract: Bogotá (Colombia) is a large city located in the high Andes at 2600 masl, lying on top of a former Pleistocene lake. The present day Bogota savannah is a flat 1.400 km2 watershed, almost completely closed, and surrounded by hills, that geologically corresponds to the Sabana Formation, composed of lagoon sediments 200 to 400 meters thick of Pleistocene-Holocene age. The lake started to dry up around 28.000 years ago, and still does, living behind large areas of seasonal flooding.According to the archaeological finds, the region was first populated at about 12.400 B.P. by pre-ceramic hunter-gatherers. The first ceramic culture (the Herrera) might have appeared there by 400 B.C., which was followed by the later Muisca culture, which was then met by the Spanish conquest in 1536. Muisca indigenous people had a scattered settlement pattern of small family units residing among their farming plots around the remnants of the Pleistocene lake. Close proximity between people was not the rule at that time, so community ties and territorial awareness relied on a network of roads that connected small communities throughout the landscape. Even though numerous Muisca sites have been retrieved archaeologically and researched extensively, the roads that constructed the connections have not yet been clearly traced or studied. The relations that could have existed between the settlements have not been established so far, and the connections that make sense of the territory need to be determined.
“Late pre-Hispanic and colonial era roads in Bogota” is a PhD project proposal that will focus on reconstructing the road network that crossed the Bogota area in late Muisca and early Colonial times, going through the surrounding mountains, and also traversing the available passages amidst the dissecating lake. Although the traces of paths are still visible in the mountainous landscape, the roads that traversed the flooded plain are much more difficult to reconstruct, because there are few visible remains of them on the surface, and because present day Bogota expanded over them.
Methodologically, the dissertation project will be based on four pillars: study of historical cartography, historical archives search, spatial analysis of geological, geographical, and paleo-environmental variables, and field work.
The present stage of the project funded by the QRC award will be an exploratory phase aimed at establishing the availability, location and quality of the existing archival, cartographical and environmental information resources. Various sources exist, comprising Colonial era archives, paper and digital maps collections, geological and geographical information, paleo-environmental data, governmental sources and old written accounts. Since such sources are varied and might have different levels of complexity and completeness, a preliminary assessment of their characteristics is needed. A 10-week exploration and gathering of sources will be accomplished at Bogota during the summer of 2023, followed by a classification stage in which the relevance and significance of the data for the project will be assessed.
Report: pending
-
Sitkalidak Archaeological Youth Camp 2023
-
Estella Leopold Collection and Lab management Project
Abstract: Esteemed Emerita Professor Dr. Estella Leopold built a world-class research collection and laboratory during her tenure at the University of Washington (UW). Dr. Leopold is a pioneering paleobotanist, conservationist, and woman in science; she is the second ever Director of the QRC, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and esteemed Professor Emerita of the Biology Department at UW. Her research on Quaternary and Cenozoic climate around the world and her conservation efforts–leading to the founding of the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, co-founding the Aldo Leopold Foundation to keep the land ethic legacy of her father alive and thriving, among many other accomplishments–are a crowning contribution to UW’s reputation.We have been entrusted with the responsibility to properly move and catalog Dr. Leopold’s collections of fossil specimens, equipment, and reference materials. Over the summer of 2023, and with the support of the QRC, we plan to inventory, coordinate, and move the various elements of the Leopold Lab in Johnson Hall as well as collections stored in Hitchcock Hall. Our project aims to ensure that these resources are still accessible to the Quaternary science research community and that Dr. Leopold’s legacy is preserved. As former director of the QRC, her significance within the QRC community warrants the investment to preserve her legacy. This project will also enhance the UW Burke Museum paleobotany collection in terms of specimens, reference materials, and laboratory equipment. We aim to serve as a hub of palynology research at the UW, of particular interest to many members of the QRC. We also intend to work with the QRC, Biology, Earth and Space Sciences, and Burke Museum to determine the best new home for the reference materials and equipment in the Leopold Lab. This project presents an opportunity to safeguard Dr. Leopold’s legacy and to improve the palynological and paleobotanical resources at UW; we look forward to sharing these resources with the QRC community in research and outreach endeavors in the future.
-
Investigating Strike-Slip Faulting in the Hyper Arid Core of the Atacama Desert, Northern Chile
Abstract: The Salar Grande Fault (SGF) is a dextral-oblique fault system within the northern segment of the Atacama Fault Zone (AFZ), in Northern Chile. The study area is immersed in hyper-arid desert conditions (< 2 mm/year rainfall), with excellent surface preservation markers indicating strike-slip fault motion. The region sits within one of the most active subduction zones in the world, where future magnitude 9 earthquakes from the megathrust and tsunami waves up to 30 m are expected to impact the coastal towns. Reconstructing the landscape evolution of the SGF is essential to understand the role of crustal faults in subduction zone settings and the interaction between deeper tectonics and surface processes. This QRC fund supports two methods to provide Quaternary and Cenozoic evolution data to the study area.
- Optical Luminiscence Dating (OSL) techniques working with the USGS Luminescence Laboratory Facilities: We took several samples from fluvial deposits, alluvial fans and fault scarps, to date humid periods and potential paleoseismic activity in the study area. These ages contribute to build a better paleoclimatic record of the study area.
- Pilot study of thermochronology in apatites with the CU-Trail Facilities: we took 8 samples from a transect up to the top of the mountains of the study area. Our goal is to reveal the exhumation history of the mountain range and the role of the SGF in the uplift of the region.
This is an essential part of my research and Ph.D. dissertation at UW and these project are both collaborations between the ESS Department and other institutions like CU Boulder and the USGS. We hope to present these results in conferences and publish at least one peer-reviewed publication from the data.
Report: pending
-
The Risk of Tsunamis to Coastal Groundwater Resources in Northern Cascadia: Reconstructing the Extent of the 1964 Alaska Tsunami Using Geologic Evidence to Determine the Potential Threat of Future Marine Inundation to Groundwater Resources in Western Vancouver Island, Canada
Abstract: The effects of tsunamis are not isolated to the destructive force of the wave alone. This is apparent in the interactions between the saline seawater of a tsunami and freshwater stored in groundwater-bearing geologic formations known as aquifers. Research suggests that tsunami-related salinization may yield groundwater undrinkable for 4 to 15 years following a tsunami. Key variables of uncertainty are tsunami inundation height, rainfall recharge rate, and the speed at which water can pass through site-specific geologic material. Thus, studying this problem is interdisciplinary and requires methodologies from both the coastal hazards and hydrogeological disciplines. In North America, the area with the highest tsunami risk is the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) – an area of tectonism from northern California to southern British Columbia. The most recent tsunami and subsequent tsunami deposit in the CSZ (a thin < 5 cm layer of sand contained within marsh sediments) is from the 1964 Alaska earthquake/tsunami which caused damage to the coastal communities of Port Alberni, Ucluelet, and Tofino, BC. I will develop a methodology seeking to answer two questions: (1) can grain size distributions of the 1964 tsunami deposit be used to reconstruct the 1964 tsunami wave height and from this data, can a map of the geographic extent of the tsunami be generated? 2. Based on (1) and considering variations in precipitation and aquifer materials, what is the vulnerability of regional groundwater to future tsunamis? I will generate a groundwater vulnerability map for the region. This will be the first map of its kind created in Canada and provide not only vital information for communities in the region seeking to protect their water supply but also act as a blueprint for future studies.Report: pending
-
Equipment for QRC related hybrid format conference facilitation
-
Reconstructing a Mid- to Late- Holocene Paleotsunami Record in Northern Cascadia
Abstract: Geologic records of past Cascadia earthquakes and tsunamis from Washington, Oregon, and northern California record up to the last ~4,500 years of repeated earthquakes and tsunamis. This information has informed rupture models and improved risk assessment for the Cascadia coastline. However, long-term records of earthquakes and tsunamis in northern Cascadia (i.e., southern British Columbia) are not as common and rarely predate the most recent 1700 event, hindering a complete understanding of the entire subduction zone. To address this knowledge gap, this project aims to reconstruct the longest onshore record of tsunamis in northern Cascadia. Salt marsh sediments in Port Alberni (Vancouver Island) will be investigated using a multi-proxy approach (i.e., stratigraphy, micropaleontology, elemental geochemistry, and sediment grain size) to document a series of previously reported and newly discovered units that are inferred to be from past tsunamis spanning at least the last ~5,000 years. The Quaternary Research Centre has provided funding for radiocarbon dating to constrain the age of each event. These dates will be used to create a robust Bayesian age-depth model permitting the correlation of events between Port Alberni and further afield locations in Washington State (e.g., Discovery Bay). Correlations between sites in middle and northern Cascadia will tease out local and distant sources for earthquakes and tsunamis, providing insight to the magnitude and frequency patterns of past events. Not only is a record from northern Cascadia critical in assessing seismic hazards in Canada, it will also elucidate subduction zone characteristics that have implications for the entire Cascadia coastline.Report: pending
-
Reconstructing 500 years of relative sea level change in the northern section of Cascadia using a foraminiferal-Bayesian transfer function at Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract: The Cascadia coastline, spanning southern British Columbia to northern California, is prone to some of the greatest megathrust earthquakes (magnitude 8-9) and subsequent tsunamis. Throughout the Holocene, these earthquakes produce patterns of vertical land motion that’s recorded in salt marsh stratigraphy as relative sea-level (RSL) change caused by uplift or subsidence. Given the lack of great earthquakes since 1700 C.E., geological investigation remains the only way to assess reoccurrence intervals and intensities. Proxies including microfossils (i.e., foraminifera) have been used as a reconnaissance tool for obtaining changes in RSL because their assemblages vary strongly to tidal elevation. By using tidally sensitive foraminifera, we can capture an earthquakes full cycle (preseismic and postseismic signals) and quantify coseismic subsidence estimates. Therefore, RSL reconstructions shed light into the magnitude and habit of great Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) earthquakes. Despite the wealth of successful geologic records documenting coseismic subsidence estimates in Cascadia, most studies have taken place in the U.S., with major knowledge gaps existing in the northern section of the CSZ in British Columbia. The aim of my research is to reconstruct the sea level history over the last ~500 years at Port Alberni, British Columbia. Resolving whether coseismic subsidence occurred at Port Alberni will allow current rupture models to be better constrained. To better understand estimation and variability of past earthquake in the northern section, I will apply a foraminiferal Bayesian transfer function (B-TF) and incorporate prior information to resolve the ongoing debate if Port Alberni subsided during the 1700 C.E. Cascadia earthquake. 48 surface sediment samples were collected at the Port Alberni salt marsh along three transects representing key elevation changes within the marsh spanning from upland to subtidal zones. Surface sediment samples will be used for micropaleontological analysis and loss-on-ignition. Three 1.5 m sediment cores were retrieved from the marsh, will be used to access the microfossil record, and establish a chronology (137Cs, 210Pb and 14C). A B-TF will be used to relate the surface foraminifera assemblages and their elevations, to their fossil assemblage, creating the first high-resolution sea level history reconstruction at Port Alberni.
It is anticipated that the results will determine better understanding of plate boundary processes whether Cascadia produces full trench or multi-segment ruptures. We can additionally prepare coastal communities into resilient ones’, by equipping them with risk assessment plans, evacuation strategies, and inundation and coastal erosion maps.
Report: pending
-
Applications of an in-situ optical surface exposure dating technique on glacial erratic quartzites from the Columbia Basin and Scotland
-
Supplemental support for field research and training: Physical and chemical signature of paleoseismicity in hot spring deposits on active faults of the Central Nevada Seismic Belt
-
Constraining Astoria Canyon’s distal depocenter: Discovering the balance of gradual and episodic accumulation along WA’s outer slope
Abstract: Marine sedimentary deposits along the Cascadia margin have long been a source for insight into historical events and processes including: seismic recurrence; floods, storms and other oceanographic processes; and geochemical exchanges in the Pacific Northwest. This history is accessed through sediment core collection and analysis (210Pb geochronology, grain size analysis, imaging, tracers). Prior studies have implemented these methods over segments of the Washington Margin, but gaps in core coverage preclude a comprehensive view of the margin. Recent core data collected from upper Astoria Canyon have proven that modern hydrodynamics are capable of flushing sediment to depths far greater than initially anticipated, but this study was not able to constrain the depth of the canyon depocenter. These dual factors have spurred new interest in a coring survey over this coverage gap with two goals:- core sites within Astoria Canyon will define the down-canyon extent of modern sediment deposition, and
- cores within and surrounding the canyon allow for the creation of an accurately interpolated map of sediment accumulation throughout northern Cascadia.
The proposed field effort will collect a series of box and kasten cores from Astoria Canyon and the surrounding slope, and analyze them for 210Pb geochronology, grain size, and stratigraphic analysis through computed tomography. The results from this proposed effort will contribute a more refined knowledge of both local canyon sediment depositional processes, and margin-wide accumulation.
Report: pending
-
Establish Monitoring of the Undi Road and Reade Hill Terrace Landslides near Forks, Washington
Abstract: The Undi Rd and Reade Hill terrace landslides, southeast of Forks, WA, are spectacular examples of active landslides typical of alpine glacial valleys on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula. The Undi Rd landslide sits within the much larger Reade Hill terrace landslide and is growing and moving relatively rapidly. Each year, scarplet heights and the aperture of tension cracks nearly doubles. And yet, little is known about either of these slides even though they have caused repeated road repair and the construction of an emergency bypass road, to maintain access for residents, recreation, fisheries, and some popular trailheads in the Olympic National Park. Our proposal is to begin a monitoring program by installing approximately 24 monitoring points around the perimeter and in the body of the landslides. We will obtain high-precision GPS coordinates and fully document the locations of each monitoring point.Our goal is to use the funding provided by the QRC as a starter for obtaining funding for long-term monitoring, investigations, and analyses of these landslides. We will obtain repeat GPS measurements on a quarterly basis for the first year, thereafter twice a year if supported by our data. We plan to conduct factor of safety modelling, detailed mapping, compare yearly structure from motion imagery, and develop a history of past landslide movements. In addition, we plan to describe the impacts of landslide sediment delivery to the Bogachiel River, an important river for fishing, sustenance, and recreation. We are collaborating with several stakeholders including property owners, the Quileute Tribe, Clallam and Jefferson Counties, and other non-profit groups.
Several graduate students will be involved in data collection, analyses, and reporting. We will present our results to scientific and lay audiences via conferences and community meetings. We hope that the data and the results of our studies warrant at least one peer-reviewed publication.
Report: pending
-
A Field Lab for Applied Research and Monitoring: The Undi Road Landslide near Forks, Washington
Abstract: The active Undi Road landslide near Forks Washington threatens fish and the aquatic ecosystem in the Bogachiel River, forest lands, access to recreation in the Olympic National Forest and Park, and the safety of residents in the area. The Undi Road landslide is a large, deep-seated, earth-slump landslide complex that mobilizes the southern edge of the 125-m-high Reade Hill alpine glacial terrace. The landslide has been moving for decades, but in 2010, motion of a portion of the slide accelerated, requiring the construction of an emergency by-pass route for Undi Road (Jefferson County, 2017). This most active part of the Undi Road slide is growing relatively rapidly, expanding from approximately 1 acre in 2013 to 14 acres in 2020. This landslide, while impressive, is not unusual in western Washington, where Quaternary sedimentary deposits host many of the region’s largest and most damaging landslides. Suburban and rural development along with climate-change-driven changes in the hydrologic system will likely lead to more frequent interaction between human infrastructure and these types of slope failures and motivates our research and educational goals.We plan to establish the Undi Road landslide as a case-study site for field education and training in applied geology and geomorphology. The broad research goals for this work focus on advancing understanding of landslide processes in Quaternary deposits and the related impacts on watersheds and infrastructure. The broad educational goals include establishment of this site as a focal location for individual student research projects that advance the research goals, community resilience, and practical training. The seed funding provided by the QRC allows us to document baseline geologic conditions, further develop stakeholder partnerships, and establish proof of concept for the educational outcomes.
Our project is divided into 5 overlapping phases:
- Document and evaluate geologic conditions,
- Establish benchmarks and monitor landslide motion,
- Conduct change-detection analyses with digital elevation models using structure from motion and drone-obtained data,
- Engage with stakeholders and present findings, and
- Establish long-term monitoring and external funding.
Our schedule includes field work starting in summer 2021 and ends with presentations and proposal writing later in 2022. Field work begins in earnest in the summer of 2021 with four graduate students establishing baseline conditions and installing benchmarks. Phase 3 is planned for winter when the vegetation cover is less dense. Then in the spring and summer of 2022, Phases 4 and 5 will be the primary focus.
Report: pending
-
A pilot geochemical analysis of sediment samples from Prasat Basaet, Battambang province, Cambodia
-
Centering Karuk knowledge in floodplain restoration
Abstract: The Karuk Tribe has managed the Mid-Klamath River watershed for time immemorial and continues to do so today (Diver et al. 2010; Whistler 1979). Karuk management techniques, including the use of cultural fire, have been integral to the evolution of plant communities in the region (Anderson 2013; Crawford et al. 2015), which are some of the most diverse plant communities in the world (Dellasala et al. 1999). Over the last two hundred years, mining, fire suppression, and dams have severely degraded the Klamath watershed’s ecological integrity (Oliver et al. 2014; Reilly et al. 2020) and disrupted Karuk traditional lifeways (Norgaard 2014a; Norgaard 2014b; Norgaard 2019). Beginning in 2022 the largest dam removal project in US history will begin on the Mid-Klamath, offering unprecedented opportunities to pursue large-scale riparian restoration and to develop sustainable management practice in the context of anticipated climate change. Given the reciprocal nature of Klamath River ecological processes and Karuk lifeways, incorporating cultural practice into restoration research in the mid- Klamath Basin will improve ecological outcomes (Stevens 2020; Reyes-García et al. 2019), support eco-cultural revitalization and living Karuk traditions (Long & Lake 2018; Marks-Block et al. 2019; Sowerwine et al. 2019), and advance Karuk efforts to decolonialize watershed governance (Diver 2016; Sarna-Wojcicki et al. 2019). This larger Karuk-led project foregrounds environmental justice and cogeneration in the eco-cultural revitalization of Tishánik, a Karuk cultural center on the Klamath River floodplain, and the site of Pikyávish, the annual World- Renewal Ceremony. The project is co-led by educator and basket weaver Lisa Morehead-Hillman (Karuk), cultural practitioner and leader Leaf Hillman (Karuk), and aquatic ecologist and geographer Dr. Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (UW). The goals of the larger project are to (1) Map topography, landscape processes (fire, flood), and vegetation, and model effects of alternative floodplain restoration strategies on priority cultural species; and (2) Co-produce Karuk knowledge-centered restoration interventions through iterative participatory mapping and design processes. This grant will fund student participation in a workshop in which Karuk community members and cultural practitioners will evaluate their restoration designs and preliminary vegetation mapping work.Report: [pending]
-
Columbia River outburst flood in 1420– 1450 CE?
-
Investigating ecological change and archaeology in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea
-
Using Landscape Learning to Explore Diachronic Change Within the Western Stemmed Tradition
-
Application of the emerging field of Conservation Paleobiology to uncover baselines for Olympia oyster restoration
Abstract: Successful restoration and management of valuable resources like the native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) depend on our understanding of their past. Historical baselines are fundamental to inform and monitor restoration efforts, and to interpret long-term changes in marine ecosystems. The validity and reliability of historical baselines can be compromised, however, if the ecosystem has already been degraded and/or modified by anthropogenic activities. In Washington state, restoration of native Olympia oysters is limited by shifting baselines and the lack of information of Olympia oyster populations before they collapsed in the late 1800s due to over-exploitation and pollution. While we can never return to the environmental setting in which this species once thrived, understanding the past habitat can guide current restoration efforts and help predict responses to future environmental change. 
Conservation Paleobiology is an emerging multidisciplinary field that aims to use recent fossil and archeological records to develop historical baselines and support conservation and restoration strategies. For this project, I will compile information from historical assemblages (Holocene fossils and shells from archeological middens) to increase our understanding on what healthy oyster beds looked like in the past. Preserved oyster beds can help us learn about species diversity in a community, biotic interactions, and habitat provision to other organisms. Furthermore, important metrics for oyster restoration such as reef height, oyster density per m2 and size frequency distributions can also be quantified from preserved oyster beds. At the individual level, oyster shells function as archives of proxies such as water temperature and salinity at the time organisms were alive and depositing their shells. These proxies can be quantified through d18O, Ba-Ca isotope ratios and radiocarbon dating. Better integration of historical baselines and ecological studies, together with increased collaboration between paleobiologists, archeologists, geochemists, ecologists and restoration managers and practitioners will help improve the planning, design and implementation of conservation and restoration efforts for Olympia oysters in Washington and the US west coast. -
Supporting diversity, equity and inclusion for the Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium 2020 in Seattle
Abstract: The Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium (MPC), an annual, (inter)national paleobotany meeting will be hosted at UW May 1-3, 2020. This small (~40-60 attendees) conference typically attracts students and other, early-career paleobotanists as a “safe place” to present; in addition, a broad set of influential paleobotanists (from paleosystematists to paleoecologists) routinely come. The meeting takes place over three days, with a Friday-night mixer, talks in the Burke Museum on Saturday followed by posters and a banquet in the Life Science Building, and several fieldtrips on Sunday. This year will also feature a Friday workshop about paleobotany databases. The talks and posters will be bookended by keynote lectures from leading paleobotanists (Drs. Ellen Currano and Alejandra Gandolfo).To allow students and postdocs to come, MPC registration rates are typically low. However, because the meetings have historically been held in the midwestern to eastern US, the higher transportation costs and comparatively pricy lodging in Seattle will nonetheless make conference expenses prohibitive for many students. To encourage participation, we are therefore offering travel stipends (~$400/student) for four or more students. The funds granted by QRC will exclusively be used to this end.
The MPC benefits the QRC by bringing several emerging and established paleobotanists to Seattle and highlighting the importance of the QRC for UW’s paleo research community. The meeting will help build the UW’s reputation as a hub for paleontology research and graduate student training and promote networking with prominent paleobotanists for our graduate and undergraduate students in paleontology, many of whom are QRC members.
Conference website: https://sites.google.com/uw.edu/mpc-2020/home
Report: [pending]
-
Spatial Resilience as a Basis for Cultural Landscape Preservation: Towards an Assessment of Long-term Environmental Heritage Value in the Agrarian Chengdu Plain
Abstract: The agrarian linpan (wooded lots) landscape of the Chengdu Plain in Sichuan, China, is a unique socio-ecological landscape supporting an exceptionally large rural and urban population, including urban centers of exceptional spatial stability over a very long history. The landscape is distinctive for its high rural population density; dispersed (nonnucleated) distribution of dwelling sites; high forest cover; biodiversity of both crop and non-economic plant species; irrigation that maintains sediment recharge of cultivated soil; and flood management success without dependence on levees, dikes or dams. Within this landscape, a single linpan is a relatively small site/cluster of rural dwellings (typically 1-9 households) that also includes a surrounding grove of bamboo and other tree types separated from other linpan at short distances by water channels, rice paddies and fields. In other high-yield cultivated landscapes of any age, either elsewhere in China or globally, this dwelling form and pattern of settlement is highly unusual; larger nucleated villages sited at greater distances are the norm. This proposal seeks support for research to help bridge some of the gaps in understanding between what is known of the landscape’s prehistoric morphology, and what can be gleaned from historically documentable and currently observable morphological features of greater or lesser stability. The research has potential significance not only for scientific understanding of socio-ecological resilience, but also applications to pressing developmental policy concerns.Report: Read the report here.
-
Open access to Bridge of the Gods
-
Addressing Rock Artifact Erosion in Mount Diablo State Park, California
-
Assessing Rock Surface Erosion Using Cosmogenic Isotopes and Optically Simulated Luminescence Depth Profiling in Petroglyph Contexts
Abstract: Petroglyphs, rock images created by the anthropogenic removal of material on a rock surface, are subjected to various natural and anthropogenic conditions that cause them to degrade over time and eventually disappear. Accurate quantification of the erosive impacts on petroglyph surfaces and identifying and understanding the environmental factors of erosion can be essential for planning preservation strategies.A multidisciplinary scientific analysis utilizing geochemical and paleoenvironmental analysis methods at petroglyph bearing sites will be conducted at Henry W. Coe State Park, located in the Diablo Range of Northern California, to assess the history of and factors contributing to rock surface erosion. This analysis will primarily focus on utilizing concentrations of cosmogenic isotope 10Be from rock surface samples in proximity to petroglyphs to establish proximal rock erosion rates to petroglyph surfaces. Using the data, erosion episodicity (whether spallated, gradual, etc.) may also be determined via applied modeling. Cosmogenic erosion data will be co-analyzed with optically simulated luminescence (OSL) depth profiling analyses on similar/same rock surfaces to decipher any unique environmental settings that may impact each method’s results. Providing a cosmogenic-OSL dual analysis also helps introduce cosmogenic isotopes to archaeological study in a way that easily relates cosmogenic isotopic methods to OSL, making it easier to understand and incorporate cosmogenic isotopes in future archaeological work. The same can be said for Earth scientists interested in rock erosion analyses yet are less familiar with OSL, which is an underutilized tool in the Earth Sciences yet hosts great potential for surface process study. No samples directly from petroglyph surfaces will be taken. Additional paleoenvironmental analyses of the petroglyph region will also be carried out, utilizing a multitude of methods such as palynology, rock-vegetation interaction analyses, Landscape Reconstruction Algorithms (LRA), and other relevant paleoenvironmental methods that will be uniquely applicable to the site. Once gathered, a comparative analysis utilizing the quantitative erosion data and paleoenvironmental records will then be conducted to provide a better understanding of the erosive history of petroglyph surfaces and help identify the environmental factors affecting erosion rates. This knowledge may offer needed data for communities and parks wanting to optimize the preservation of their material heritage.
-
Reconstructing seed dispersal paleoecology in the North American Great Plains
Abstract: The earliest evidence for grass dominated habitats in the Great Plains region appears in the fossil record around 25 million years ago. Since then, the region has experienced significant climatic, floral, and faunal changes. My research investigates how changes in the structure of North American grasslands affected the ecology of grasses in the region, with a particular focus on seed dispersal.Modern grasses display a variety of dispersal strategies, exploiting both biotic and abiotic vectors to spread their seeds, and we have hypothesized that the initial expansion of grass dominated habitats in the Great Plains region precipitated changes in the dispersal ecology of its major grass constituents. I am testing this hypothesis using both living grasses and fossilized grass seeds. The morphology of the grass diaspore (seed dispersal structure) reflects how it is dispersed, and by studying the morphology of the diaspores of modern and fossil grasses, we can understand the dispersal ecology of grasses in North America’s earliest grasslands, how it has changed through time, and how it compares with today.
One aspect of this research focuses particularly on understanding how reliably our fossils preserve the dispersal structures of the grasses in those early grasslands. Fossil diaspores are preserved as 3D silicifications, and their preservation is believed to be dependent upon those structures being indurate, and well silicified in life. Many grasses possess bristle-like appendages called awns, which often play a critical role in seed dispersal. The fossils we use are found lacking awns, but it is unclear whether this reflects a preservation bias or whether the awns were shed prior to dispersal (as occurs in some of these grasses modern relatives). To address this question we are assessing the preservation potential of the different parts of the diaspore in a variety of modern grasses, by evaluating the relative silicon concentrations of each. To do this, we are growing a large number of grasses in the new Life Science Building greenhouse and using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to quantify the level of silicon deposition in the awn relative to the main body of the diaspore.
Once the morphology of fossil diaspores is better understood, we can try to reconstruct how seeds were dispersed. To do this, we are constructing an eco-morphospace based upon measurable traits associated with particular methods of seed dispersal. By incorporating grasses into this space, their seed dispersal strategies can be compared in a quantitative manner. Importantly, the chosen metrics can all be directly measured or reasonably estimated from fossil grass diaspores. By incorporating fossils into this morphospace we will track how dispersal ecology changed through time, and how the grass communities of the past compare to those found in modern grasslands.
Report: [pending]
-
Evidence for liquefaction and flooding in the past 1,000 years along the Duwamish River, Seattle, Washington
-
Refining ages of tsunami deposits at Discovery Bay, Washington, using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating
Abstract: A tidal marsh at the head of Discovery Bay has the longest and most important geologic record of tsunamis in Washington State. At least nine tsunamis have deposited fine sand layers in peaty tidal marsh sediments in the last 2,500 years. In addition, thinner sand layers, including one that may be from the 1964 Alaska tsunami, are interspersed among the thicker tsunami deposits. While radiocarbon dating has improved the timing of tsunami events at the site, there are outstanding questions that have not been resolved using this method. The proposed work seeks to determine timing of tsunami events with greater resolution to narrow down potential sources for each deposit, which could include Cascadia, local faults, tsunamigenic landslides (perhaps triggered by earthquakes), and distant source tsunamis. To further our knowledge of sources and recurrence, we propose to conduct a pilot study using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to test the applicability of the method to improving the ages of these deposits.Report: [pending]
-
Decadal-scale impacts of mangrove removal: Re-evaluation of sediment characteristics and transport >10-years after mangrove removal in Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand
Abstract: Mangrove forests occupy the complex intersection of geomorphology, oceanography, forestry, and anthropology. As the only large woody plant that grows in the intertidal zone, mangroves directly impact coastal stability and morphology by rapidly colonizing prograding shorelines, retaining sediment, and damping wave energy. Unfortunately, mangrove forests are threatened by accelerating deforestation, and there is very little data on decade- to century-scale change following mangrove removal. A mangrove clearing project in Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand has provided a rare opportunity to observe decadal-scale, geomorphic changes associated with deforestation. Patchy mangrove removal in 2005 created a natural laboratory to compare sedimentary processes on naturally unvegetated, forested, and cleared intertidal surfaces of the harbor. Changes to the estuarine morphology and sediment transport were evaluated during and immediately after the clearing in the Waikaraka Estuary of Tauranga Harbor. This estuary will now be reexamined in June 2019 through a collaboration between UW, Southern Cross University, and the University of Waikato. We will examine the physiognomy of the mangrove stands, evaluate sediment transport using acoustic current meters and sediment traps, and collect cores of the upper 1-m of sediment. The cores will be analyzed for grain size and organic content. Accumulation rates will be calculated using 210Pb. These measurements will be used to assess the physical changes which have occurred and predict the future evolution of this estuary. We are grateful for the support of the QRC, which will enable us to use deploy the acoustic instruments and conduct the 210Pb analysis. These measurements add quantitative evaluation of the previously published patterns of sediment transport and geomorphic change. This field study will improve our understanding of past and future coastal change associated with deforestation.Report: Read the report here.
-
LEIA Paleoenvironmental Pilot Project
Abstract: The LEIA PALEOENVIRONMENTAL PILOT PROJECT aims at providing preliminary baseline paleoenvironmental information to the on-going UW LANDSCAPE, ENCOUNTERS AND IDENTITY ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT (LEIAP, HTTP://LEIAP.WEEBLY.COM/). The latter is a UW lead landscape archaeology fieldschool project that seeks to reconstruct the history of occupation and land use of the Son Servera landscape (E. Mallorca, Spain) spanning from Late Bronze Age (c. 1300 cal. BCE) to early modern times. It represents the first comprehensive landscape project ever carried out in Mallorca (and the Balearic Islands) that combines very intensive surface survey with targeted excavations aimed at collecting datable material to tie chronologically the construction, use and abandonment of known sites with landscape-wide processes. The LEIA PALEOENVIRONMENTAL PILOT PROJECT, focuses, more precisely on the collection and analysis of a series of paleo-vegetation (pollen) and anthropogenic fire cores, as well as, basic geomorphological mapping for the study area.A major asset of the LEIA project is the collection of large amounts of geo-located +27,000 dGPS surface collection points, roughly 10m apart (±2m SE), from which almost 28,000 artifacts (all classified by period, weighed and measured) have been retrieved. Thus, the LEIA project is ideally primed to combine this rich archaeological dataset with paleoenvironmental information to begin exploring how recurrent local practices, trade contacts and invasions may have shaped the local landscape.
The LEIA PALEOENVIRONMENTAL PILOT PROJECT seeks to start redressing the current deficiency in paleoenvironmental information through a series of smaller projects aimed at answering specific questions:
- The collection of preliminary palynological information aimed at reconstructing vegetation history of our study area (Is there evidence of a vegetation shift during the mid to late fourth millennium? Did increase contact with the greater Mediterranean during the late first millennium brings upon changes in landscape exploitation?)
- The processing of geomorphological samples aimed at identifying and characterizing major erosion and sedimentary episodes in the Serverin landscape. (how reliable are our reconstructions of landscape occupation based on our survey results? what periods show clear evidence of human induced erosion?)
- The processing of field samples aimed at assessing the possible use, and impact, of anthropogenic fire through time. (how early did the use of fire for landscape management started in Mallorca? What areas in the landscape were targeted)?
This is a collaborative project with other Spanish (Biel Servera, Jordi Hernandez-Gasch, Anton Puig) and US (Grant Snitker, Nari Miller) researchers.
Report: [pending]
-
Integrating Steller Sea Lion Archaeogenomics with Archaeological Data to Understand Human-Marine Ecosystem Interactions and Demographic Shifts in the Kuril Islands
Abstract: This project uses ancient DNA analysis of Steller sea lion remains from the Kuril Islands to investigate a human population collapse that occurred around 1000 B.P., associated with the Okhotsk culture. I will also provide paleoecological data that can be used to better understand contemporary pinniped populations and the threats facing them. Sea lions are being used to investigate human population collapse because they were relied on both for subsistence and resources by the people of the Kuril Islands. If the decline in the Okhotsk population is related to a decrease in the abundance of marine resources, a correlating bottleneck in sea lion populations may be evident in the archaeogenomic record. A sea lion population bottleneck would not be the direct cause of a human population decrease, but it would signal human pressure on the marine environment and/or an external climatic event affecting people and their resources. If there is no change in population structure of sea lions during the Okhotsk collapse, environmental stresses may not have been a factor in their decline. I will use the genetic data obtained from the sea lions to test for ancient population structure in sea lions, test for demographic decline, and look for signs of “genomic meltdown.” This research serves as pilot work for my dissertation in which I will use these methods as a means for understanding larger scale human-marine environment interactions in the North Pacific Rim region throughout the Holocene. -
Ancient plant community and climate of the Pacific Northwest (USA) during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum: The Emerald Creek Flora of Northern Idaho
-
The geomorphic legacy of outburst floods: does boulder deposition from megaflooding control erosional patterns in the eastern Himalaya?
-
Low-Impact Recording Methods in Rock Art Studies
-
West Greenland coastal temperatures during the 8.2 ka event derived from alkenones
Abstract: The transition from the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) was punctuated by a number of large and abrupt cooling periods (e.g., Younger Dryas (12.4 ka to 11.7 ka BP), the last of which occurred ca 8.2 ka BP. These abrupt cooling events are thought to have occurred when glacial-melt lakes along the LIS margin overtopped their moraines releasing massive volumes of freshwater into the Labrador Sea. Ice core records from atop the Greenland ice sheet show a relatively small decrease in temperatures (1-2˚C) over about two-hundred years but the magnitude of terrestrial changes along the coastal margin have not been documented. This project seeks to characterize the climatic impacts of the 8.2 ka event along the west coast of Greenland, by measuring the alkenone unsaturation index Uk’37 (based upon lipid molecules specific to certain phytoplankton of the phylum Haptophyta in sediments from Limnaea Sø, a closed-basin, oligohaline lake approximately ~100 km from the coast. A number of studies have demonstrated the temperature dependence of Uk’37 for lacustrine alkenones and Uk’37 has been used to develop records of past temperature from lake sediments. We propose to produce a temperature reconstruction with decadal-to-centennial resolution spanning the onset of the 8.2 ka event through the mid-Holocene. Sediment cores for this project were collected in 2012 and initial core descriptions and radiocarbon chronologies have been generated. We hypothesize that the magnitude of changes were significantly larger along the coastal margin of Greenland than the ice sheet summit due to local sea ice changes in the Labrador Sea/Baffin Bay, as predicted by climate models, and that this resulted in significantly greater cooling along coastal Greenland. Funds are sought from QRC to test this hypothesis and obtain the pilot data necessary to support a larger NSF proposal next year.Report: [pending]
-
Evaluating the paleohydrologic potential of triple oxygen isotopes across a natural salinity gradient in tropical Pacific lake waters
Abstract: Paleohydrologic data provides important constraint on the climate system that cannot be inferred from the brief observational record. This project will test the efficacy of a new paleohydrologic proxy based on the triple oxygen isotope composition of lake water. Evaporation of an isolated water body leads to an increase in the concentration of the rare 18O isotope, and subtle changes of a few thousandths of a percent in the ratio of 17O to 18O relative to the Global Meteoric Water Line. Referred to as 17Oexcess, this quantity is distinct from existing paleohydrologic proxies in that it is very insensitive to temperature. A critical step in the development of a 17Oexcess paleohydrologic proxy is to demonstrate that closed lake systems behave in a manner similar to theory, and laboratory pan evaporation experiments. Doing so can be challenging over observable timescales because recent variations in the hydrologic balance of many lake systems are relatively subtle in comparison to the larger changes characterizing the Quaternary. The proposed work will solve this problem by examining 17Oexcess variability across a range of evaporative environments represented by the hundreds of independent, closed system lakes on the central tropical Pacific atoll of Kiritimati, which span salinities of <20 to >300‰. Results that suggest that environmental systems exhibit a relationship similar to that expected from theory and laboratory experiments will be used to pursue additional support from NSF’s P2C2 program for downcore measurements of 17Oexcess in tropical Pacific lacustrine carbonates. These downcore analyses have the potential to estimate past hydrologic variability in regions highly sensitive to the El Nino Southern Oscillation across at least the Holocene.
Read the report here.
-
Quaternary deformation of the Hog Ranch-Naneum anticline, Yakima folds, Washington
-
Permafrost distribution in High Andes
-
The utility of palm phytoliths for inferring the evolution and paleoecology of Arecaceae
-
Constraining ages of glacial deposits recorded in a Victoria Valley permafrost core
-
Evidence of past M9 events along the coast
-
Workshop: Defining the Cutting Edge of Quaternary Science of Genetic Paleoecology
-
GPR transect in the Matanuska – Susitna lowlands, Alaska
-
A search for pre-LGM megaflood sedimentation in Cascadia Basin
-
The Emergence of Iron Metallurgy in Taiwan: a Trade Diaspora Model
Abstract: My research takes a new approach to investigating the emergence of prehistoric iron metallurgy in Taiwan by using a trade diaspora model, which privileges the role of trade diasporic “foreigner” communities and their interactions with local communities. Trade diaspora are characterized by groups of merchants who travel far from home and locate themselves in a different community to trade goods and provide services. Recently, archaeologists have applied the concept of trade diaspora to explain the interaction between foreign immigrants and indigenous people in historic periods. My project will use the trade diaspora model to explain archaeological data from a time period in Taiwan pre-dating the appearance of documentary historical records, about 1800 years ago.Report: [pending]
-
Termite geoarchaelogy at Madjedbebe, Northern Australia
-
The Historical Archaeology of Gender, Food and Labor in Old Harbor, Alaska
-
Understanding the technological transition during the Late Pleistocene in Korea
-
Quantifying bed material abrasion to help predict the response of rivers to pulses of sediment supply
-
Workshop: Hhydrologic change over Asia and North America on geological time scales
-
Expression of the 8.2 Kyr Event in Palau
-
Rainshadow Effect on Stable Isotopes of n-Alkanes across the Cascade Mountains of Washington, USA
Abstract: The Cascade Mountains, which run north-south through Oregon and Washington into British Columbia, are one of the dominant geographic features of the Pacific Northwest. This project seeks to examine the stable-isotopic orographic rainshadow effect produced by the Cascades by comparing the d2H (dD) and d13C of n-alkanes (a long-chain hydrocarbon found in the waxy cuticles of plant leaves) from living plants, leaf detritus, and soil organic matter in a transect across the Cascades of Washington state. The dD of a plant is dominantly dependent on the dD of local rainfall, while the d13C depends mainly on the species of the plant and the aridity of its environment; the dD and d13C of n-alkanes in the soil depend on the plants which have contributed leaf litter to that soil. Documenting how the Cascade rainshadow affects and/or controls hydrogen and carbon isotopic trends is critical to understanding the fate of atmospheric moisture when it passes through orogens, and how plants (and soils) react to those changes. Moreover, understanding how isotopic trends evolve across the Cascade rainshadow is a mandatory step towards documenting the topographic evolution of the Cascades through geologic time via isotopic proxies. Identifying the nature of the isotopic trends – for instance, where and how transitions in isotopic composition occur – will allow us to determine if the degree and trend of isotopic depletion is directly correlated to rainshadow intensity and, by extension, the Cascades’ topography. This will provide a dataset for researchers studying isotopic distillation both by plants and by atmosphere dynamics, and a modern comparator for studies of ancient isotopic trends in this and similar settings.Report: [pending]
-
A pilot geochemical analysis of food residues on ancient pottery from Kiwulan, Taiwan
-
Investigating fault scarp degradation in jointed basalt in southern Iceland
-
Investigating the disappearance of Palau’s jellyfish through Holocene climate reconstructions
-
Using modern phytoliths to determine the spatial resolution of the phytolith fossil record
-
San Pablo Archaeological Project
-
Rock climbing in the Quaternary: A pilot biomechanical study of rock climbing grips compared with under-branch suspensory grips
-
Northern Hokkaido Cultural Chronologies and Environmental Reconstructions from Hamanaka 2, Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan
-
Freezing soils and patterned ground in the tropics
-
Constraining past Antarctic Ice Sheet thickness using cosmogenic 14C in bedrock
-
Preserving human-environment relationships: Nineteenth Century food practices on the Grand Ronde Reservation
-
An examination of the style and extent of Quaternary deformation in Haida Gwaii driven by subduction initiation
-
Constraining material properties and age of Mima Mounds
-
Workshop: International Phytolith Taxonomy Committee
-
Climate Change and Plant Response through the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) Mass Extinction
-
Transient river response to headwater deglaciation, Mount Rainier, WA
-
Spatial Patterns in Terrestrial Paleoclimate Conditions of the Late Cretaceous
-
The Future of the Past: Capturing a 5000 year record of Human‐>Environmental variability on the North Coast of Alaska
-
Evaluation of paleoflood evidence, Matanuska Valley, Alaska
-
Preserving the Past Together: A Seminar in Cultural and Environmental Heritage Management
-
Paleoenvironmental constraints from paleosol-loess sequences: evaluating clumped (∆47) isotopic records in biogenic and pedogenic carbonate
-
Quantifying Climate Change During The Petm In Continental North America
-
C14 dating of mangrove peat cores from Seram and Ujir Islands, Indonesia
-
UArctic Student Forum and Congress 2016, St. Petersburg, Russia
-
Radiometric Dating of Lake Sediment Cores from the South Pacific Convergence Zone for Late Holocene Paleoclimatology
-
Climate and Culture in the Tropical Pacific during the mid-late Holocene
-
Investigating Vegetation Changes in Northern Australia in the Late Pleistocene – Holocene
-
Distal and ultra-distal tephra layers as a dating tool in various fields of the Quaternary studies with special focus on Kamchatka and Kuril Islands
-
River incision driven by changes to woody debris and sediment retention
-
Bathymetry and hydrography of proglacial Brandywine Lake, British Columbia
-
Permafrost distribution in High Mountain Andes
-
Could the West Antarctic Ice Sheet have Collapsed in the Previous Interglacial Warm Period? A Modeling Assessment based on Stable Isotopes in the Deep Ice from Siple Dome
-
Dating Puget Landslides and Sediment Deposits
Abstract: On the western Whidbey Island shoreline, there is a 3 km-long ancient landslide complex with evidence of episodic mass wasting. The bluff morphology within the ancient landslide complex is that of hummocky terrain buttressing 10 – 20 m-high scarps, and outside of the greater landslide complex there are oversteepened bluffs with only one example of a deep-seated landslide. There are lithologic contacts creating geologic conditions favorable to different hillslope processes based on the underlying sedimentology, for example: dry ravel of gravel and sand, skin slides of loose soil on till, deep-seated landslides rotating over failure planes of clay, etc. In order to locate and classify landslide geohazards, it is necessary to conduct detailed mapping of the substrata. However, correlation of units is difficult without quantitative age control on the units, furthermore there is little quantitative age constraint on the history of landsliding on western Whidbey Island. For this study, we will report on the results of C-14 (and potentially OSL) dates gathered, and apply their contribution to previous dating work in the area. The results will add context to the glacial and landslide history in the region, which subsequently facilitates the detailed mapping of the stratigraphy. Detailed mapping of the stratigraphy will help us locate landslide-prone regions.Report: Read the full report here.
-
Holocene history of neotectonics, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanism, paleoclimate and people on Kamchatka – visit of Vera Ponomareva
-
Rates and mechanisms of bedrock incision and strath terrace formation in a forested catchment, West Fork Teanaway River, Cascade Range, Washington
-
Land use, erosion, and sediment storage over the last two millennia in a mountainous catchment in southwest Sichuan Province
-
A Trace Element Laboratory for Environmental Science
-
Cascadia subduction zone tsunamis and land-level change in Puget Sound, Washington
Abstract: My research seeks to determine where Cascadia tsunamis been recorded in Puget Sound tidal marshes; and what environmental changes, if any, occurred in these tidal marshes in response to coseismic and/or postseismic deformation from great earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone.The extent that Cascadia earthquakes and tsunamis affect Puget Sound is relatively unknown. I will use diatom paleoecology and sedimentology to study two types of evidence. First, I will identify tsunami deposits preserved in Puget Sound tidal marshes. Second, I will determine whether or not Puget Sound tidal marshes record land-level change that coincided with, or shortly followed, great Cascadia earthquakes.
Report: During the summer of 2015, I continued my study of Puget Sound tidal marshes for evidence of seismic hazards from the Cascadia subduction zone. I focused on the record of tsunami deposits in Puget Sound that I hypothesize are from the subduction zone.
I worked at sites in Hood Canal (Lynch Cove), Discovery Bay, and Port Townsend Bay. I refined the dating for tsunami deposits from Lynch Cove and Discovery Bay by collecting and submitting additional radiocarbon samples, and these new dates have narrowed the timing of the tsunami events at both sites. In particular, the ages of the tsunami deposits at Discovery Bay are poorly constrained, so narrowing the age ranges helps with comparisons to the record at Lynch Cove, evidence for subduction zone earthquakes from the outer coast of Washington, and other future sites with tsunami deposits.
At both Lynch Cove and Discovery Bay, I also worked with personnel from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, refining the use of Ground Penetrating Radar in order to trace the tsunami deposits in the subsurface. The method was successful, and the findings were presented at the fall American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in December 2015. I was a coauthor on the presentation.
Other fieldwork completed included describing potential new tsunami deposits at Port Townsend Bay. I used recent tsunami simulations that predict high water “hot spots” for several sites in Puget Sound to search for historically undisturbed marsh sites that may preserve tsunami deposits. I explored several promising marshes without finding sand layers, but I did find two sand layers that are likely tsunami deposits in a marsh at the south end of Port Townsend Bay. I have radiocarbon samples from these layers awaiting dating with expected USGS funding.I collected new modern diatom samples to add to the regional modern diatom database that will be used for sea level reconstruction at Lynch Cove in early 2016. I purchased a salinity meter with funds received from the QRC to help with characterizing these modern samples. I used modern and fossil diatoms to confirm that the tide flat next to the marsh at Lynch Cove is the likely source of the sediments in the tsunami deposits at Lynch Cove.
I forged a new collaborative relationship with professors Randy LeVeque and Loyce Adams, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington. They developed GeoClaw software to model tsunami simulations, and they created new simulations of the Hood Canal area that show water heights of 5+ meters at Lynch Cove for a Cascadia tsunami. In addition, they have agreed to train me to use GeoClaw, so I can learn to model other sites to complement my tsunami hazard research.
I traveled to San Francisco and presented my Lynch Cove tsunami research findings at the annual AGU meeting on Dec 15th. My work was well-received, and my talk resulted in multiple discussions with out of state and international workers, as well as invitations to collaborate with others doing complementary work.
-
Assisted Migration and the Future of Great Basin pikas (Ochotona princeps)
Abstract: Since the end of the Pleistocene, warming climates have seen acceptable habitat for pikas (Ochotona princeps) move upslope by approximately 785 m in the Great Basin. As a result, the future of these iconic mammals in arid western North America is a matter of great concern to conservation biologists. Given that an attempt to place pikas on the federally endangered list failed, it seems extremely likely that these animals will now be the focus of proposals for what has come to be known as “Assisted Migration”—the purposeful movement of animals across space to establish new, and hopefully successful, populations of those animals. The work to be conducted under this grant brings together three individuals to address issues related to pika assisted migration. Those individuals are myself, with expertise in the history of small mammals in arid western North America, including pikas, and two of the world’s experts on these animals, Dr. Constance Millar (USFS Research Scientist) and Dr. Andrew Smith (Professor, Arizona State University). The work will: 1) include an examination of current occupied pika habitats in the western Great Basin, and, 2) begin the process of producing a position paper dealing with pika assisted migration for a major biological/conservation biological journal.Report: read the article published on this project here.
-
Acquisition of compound-specific isotope ratio mass spectrometry capabilities in support of environmental science research
Abstract: These funds will contribute to the acquisition of instrumentation to perform stable isotope analyses of individual chemical compounds from a wide variety of environmental samples. Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of carbon and nitrogen is the state-of-the-art across multiple disciplines within environmental science including ecology, biogeochemistry, oceanography, and global change. These capabilities are not currently available to environmental science researchers at the University of Washington (UW). Project PIs are Gordon Holtgrieve (SAFS), Julian Sachs (Ocean) and Paul Quay (Ocean). Project participants span six Schools and Departments within two Colleges (College of the Environment or College of Engineering), providing the critical mass, interest, and grant activity to establish environmentally related CSIA analyses on the UW campus. Adding CSIA to the existing suite of isotope measurement techniques and expertise at the UW will advance existing research programs and create new avenues for environmental research. Report: Read the report here; published paper here; fact sheet here.
-
High latitude terrestrial climate and ecology during peak greenhouse warming
Abstract: This project supports field and laboratory work to enable an interdisciplinary investigation of gradients in temperature, hydrologic conditions, and vegetation across North American mid- to high-latitudes during the early Eocene global warming event (~52–50 Ma). The primary goal of this project is to advance the understanding of carbon cycling, climate dynamics, and terrestrial ecological responses to high atmospheric pCO2. By improving high latitude proxy records of climate and ecology in the deep past, this work can improve our understanding of climate feedbacks and their biological impacts during the glacial-interglacial cycles of the Quaternary as well as potential future climate states involving extremely warm or “greenhouse” conditions. This is particularly crucial as the planet has begun exhibiting unexpectedly rapid rates of change recently that may be related to high-latitude climate conditions and feedbacks.Report: This proposal requested support for field and laboratory work to enable an interdisciplinary investigation of gradients in temperature, hydrologic conditions, and vegetation across North American mid- to high-latitudes during the early Eocene global warming event (~52–50 Ma). The primary goal of the work was to advance the understanding of carbon cycling, climate dynamics, and terrestrial ecological responses to high atmospheric pCO2. In addition to having important implications for understanding climate change and ecology during the Quaternary and beyond, this project advanced the intellectual life of the QRC and associated junior scientists, and also provided pilot data for externally funded research.
The work on temperature gradients and seasonality in North American mid- to high-latitudes is primarily completed, and has resulted in two manuscripts (Hyland et al., in review at EPSL; Hyland et al., in preparation). The work on hydrologic gradients in the same regions is ongoing in collaboration with UW faculty (Huntington, Roe) and has become a dissertation project for a current graduate student (Kelson) in the ESS department. Results from this will likely be published in the next year, with the graduate student as lead author. The work on vegetation gradients is also ongoing, in collaboration with UW faculty (Stromberg) and external faculty (Greenwood, Brandon University; Basinger, University of Saskatchewan), and will likely be published within the next 2 years. All publications acknowledge the QRC as a primary funding source.
Additionally, the grant provided preliminary data for an NSF-EAR grant that was submitted in 2015 with UW faculty (Huntington, Stromberg, Swann). The grant was unsuccessful, however it will likely be reworked and resubmitted to a new program in the coming year. Two local presentations have also been given on the topic of the QRC grant, during a department seminar (ESS, Fall 2015) and during a QRC annual meeting (Spring 2016), as have multiple presentations at professional meetings (AGU 2015 and 2016; GSA 2015).
-
Frequency of Long Runout Landslides near Oso, WA and the Implications for Landscape Evolution and Natural Hazards
-
Large wood debris and logjam dynamics during and after the Elwha River Restoration project
Abstract: Woody debris is a primary control on river morphodynamics, affecting sediment transport, streambed morphology, fluid flow and physical habitat. Dam removals have become an increasingly used tool in river management for restoring ecosystem function and natural river processes. The Elwha River Restoration project dam removals are a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of increased wood and sediment supply on woody debris dynamics and streambed morphology. Developing a quantitative understanding of how wood interacts with water and sediment to influence geomorphology and aquatic habitat remains a key challenge for river management, environmental engineering, ecology and geoscience in forested regions. Despite advances in the understanding of wood in rivers, fundamental questions remain about wood mobility, logjam dynamics and geomorphology, and their response to changes in wood, water and sediment supply. This research investigates the effects of the Elwha River Restoration project dam removals on woody debris dynamics and streambed morphology.Report: Read the report here.
-
Investigating Holocene Ceramics in Peninsular Thailand
Abstract: We will collect data from archaeological ceramics excavated by a UW archaeology field school from the Khao Toh Chong rockshelter site in Peninsula Thailand to learn about the ‘missing middle’ Holocene period in mainland Southeast Asia. These data will be relevant to understanding the transition from hunting and gathering to a reliance on domesticated resources in Southeast Asia. This is a hotly contested subject, with Higham (2002) claiming a ‘walk in’ scenario of foreign migrants bringing agriculture in from the north, and White (1995) countering that the process of domestication occurred without outside influence.Report: Read the article based on this project here.
-
Nepal Project
Abstract: Bernard used QRC funds to support the presentation of the data to an audience that includes the most active groups studying mountain permafrost in diverse sites worldwide, including the Himalaya. Presenting these rich results to an informed, international audience will help us obtain external funding to sustain the collective research by my group and UW colleagues in the Himalaya. Bernard submitted an abstract titled “The diverse important roles of permafrost and periglacial processes in shaping the highest mountains on earth (ABS794)” to the 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference. The abstract was accepted and with the support of the QRC, Bernard was able to attend the conference as the NSF funds that fueled this work.Report: missing
-
Dating newly suspected MIS2 moraines in Central Asia by CRN
-
Climate Change and the Historical Record: Engaging Area Studies in the Large Research University
-
Tibet Moraines Project
-
Reconstruction of Holocene temperatures from Greenland lake sediment cores using a novel method: Clumped Isotopes
