<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Dendrochronological methods can be applied to the reconstruction of different types of environmental events such as climate changes, fires, glacier movements, floods, earthquakes, volcano activity. In the field of geomorphology dendrochronology is increasingly frequently used for the absolute dating of different types of mass-movements (rock falls, landslides and debris flows, etc.). Trees growing on slopes transformed by mass-movements are tilted and wounded while their stems and root systems are exposed or buried under sediment. These events are recorded in wood anatomy as eccentric growth, reaction wood, scar overgrowth by callous tissue, changes in cell size or adventitious root production. Dating changes in wood anatomy allows to date and precisely reconstruct the spatial and temporal occurrence of mass-movements with at least one year resolution. The paper provides a review of existing dendrochronological tools used in geomorphology and also an example of the application of eccentric tree-growth to reconstruct landsliding. Using tree-ring eccentricity allows to (1) obtain a dynamic depiction of slopes, (2) study landslide activity, not only contemporary, but also in the last tens of hundreds of years (depending on the stand age).</p></abstract>

Dendrochronological methods can be applied to the reconstruction of different types of environmental events such as climate changes, fires, glacier movements, floods, earthquakes, volcano activity. In the field of geomorphology dendrochronology is increasingly frequently used for the absolute dating of different types of mass-movements (rock falls, landslides and debris flows, etc.). Trees growing on slopes transformed by mass-movements are tilted and wounded while their stems and root systems are exposed or buried under sediment. These events are recorded in wood anatomy as eccentric growth, reaction wood, scar overgrowth by callous tissue, changes in cell size or adventitious root production. Dating changes in wood anatomy allows to date and precisely reconstruct the spatial and temporal occurrence of mass-movements with at least one year resolution. The paper provides a review of existing dendrochronological tools used in geomorphology and also an example of the application of eccentric tree-growth to reconstruct landsliding. Using tree-ring eccentricity allows to (1) obtain a dynamic depiction of slopes, (2) study landslide activity, not only contemporary, but also in the last tens of hundreds of years (depending on the stand age).

Dendrochronological methods for reconstructing mass movements — An example of landslide activity analysis using tree-ring eccentricity

Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska 60, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Dendrochronological methods can be applied to the reconstruction of different types of environmental events such as climate changes, fires, glacier movements,...

Dendrochronological methods for reconstructing mass movements — An example of landslide activity analysis using tree-ring eccentricity

Published Online: Jun 19, 2012

Page range: 180 - 196

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-012-0005-5

Keywords
dendrochronology, mass movement, landslide, eccentricity of tree rings, Sudetes

© 2012 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Dendrochronological methods for reconstructing mass movements — An example of landslide activity analysis using tree-ring eccentricity

Published Online: Jun 19, 2012

Page range: 180 - 196

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-012-0005-5

Keywordsdendrochronology, mass movement, landslide, eccentricity of tree rings, Sudetes

© 2012 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
dendrochronology, mass movement, landslide, eccentricity of tree rings, Sudetes