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.
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.
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.