Dendrochronology, surficial processes

Abstract

The initial employment of tree rings in geomorphic studies was simply as a dating tool and rarely exploited other environmental information and records of damage contained within the tree. However, these unique, annually resolved, tree-ring records preserve valuable archives of past earth-surface processes on timescales of decades to centuries. As many of these processes are significant natural hazards, understanding their distribution, timing, and controls provides valuable information that can assist in the prediction, mitigation, and defense against these hazards and their effects on society. This entry provides many illustrations of these themes, demonstrating the application of tree rings to studies of snow avalanches, rockfalls, landslides, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and several other processes. It illustrates the breadth and diverse applications of contemporary dendrogeomorphology and underlines the growing potential to expand dendrogeomorphic research, possibly leading to the establishment of a range of techniques and approaches that may become standard practice in the analysis and understanding of earth-surface processes and related natural hazards in the future.