Intersession 2007
3 credits
Instructors: Dr. Malcolm K. Hughes and Dr. Ramzi Touchan
We will adopt an “open-door” policy during normal working hours.
First class meeting 9.30am May 14th, Room
ENRB 253
Dendrochronology, the study of tree-rings, is a broad field in which annual growth layers in trees are used to explore important questions in a variety of disciplines, including archaeology, climatology, ecology, geomorphology, forest science and many others. This intensive 3-week short course, offered by the laboratory where the field was founded, provides an introduction to the climatological applications of dendrochronology.
Dendroclimatology will place tree rings as natural archives of climate fluctuation in the context of interannual to millennial fluctuations in climate, and of other sources of evidence. The development of tree-ring records for use in the development of climate reconstructions, and the testing and use of such reconstructions will be covered by a mixture of lectures, discussions, practical exercises and student presentations.
All lectures by Malcolm Hughes unless otherwise indicated.
May 13: Arrive
Week 1: (May 14- 19):
Lectures 9-10.15 and 10.45-12, except first day when the first lecture will be at 9.30am in ENRB 253
Lab sessions: first week: we will split into two groups, one meeting 1pm to2.45pm, the other 3.15pm to 5.00 pm, both in Tree-Ring West Rm 20
.
Lect.1: Introductions and organization meeting.
Lab.I.: Introduction to materials
Lect. 3: Dating – what it is and how it is done
Lect. 4: Xylem and how it is formed
Lect. 6: Dendrochronological exploration – where can usable annual rings be found?
Lect. 7 Site chronologies: dating
Lect. 8 Site and tree selection
Lect. 9: Introduction to dendroclimatology
Lect. 10: Introduction to dendroecology (DA Falk)
Lect 11 Introduction to dendroarcheology (R Towner)
Field trip to see site and tree selection, sampling strategies and techniques.
Lect. 11: Introduction to standardization and time-series properties
Lect. 12: Regional Curve Standardization, Age-Band Decomposition etc. and chronology evaluation
Lab VI.: Dendroclimatology exercise: COFECHA
Lect. 13: Signal identification: Response functions.
Lect. 14: 11am Common lecture: Reconstructing Fire-Climate relations: Tom Swetnam*
Lab. VII: Dendroclimatology exercise: COFECHA continued
Lect. 15 : Signal identification: Process-based modeling.
Lect 16 11am Common lecture: Tropical isotope dendroclimatology, Mike Evans*
Lab. VIII: Dendroclimatology exercise: ARSTAN.
Lect.17: Guest lecture:IPCC AR4 Chapter 6 Paleoclimate Jonathan Overpeck
Lect. 18: Transfer functions – basic ideas.
Lab. IX: Dendroclimatology exercise: ARSTAN.
Lect.19: Case studies: Small regional studies.
Lect. 20: Guest lecture: Synoptic dendroclimatology, Katie Hirschboeck
Lab. X.: Dendroclimatology exercise: Response functions
All common lectures in G-S 203
Lect. 21: Case study: Interannual to millennial climate fluctuations recorded in old western trees.
Lect. 22: Use of tree rings in reconstruction of hemispheric and global temperature patterns
Discussion of assigned reading1
Lab. XI: Introduction to measurement systems: ring widths, density, cell dimensions
Discussion of assigned reading 2
11-12 Discussion of assigned reading 3
Lect. 23: Guest lecture: Applications of dendroclimatology, Connie Woodhouse.
Lect. 24: Guest lecture – Tree rings and ice cores in Western China -Paul Sheppard
Lect. 25: Guest lecture: Dendroclimatology in the Mediterranean region, Ramzi Touchan
Lab. XIII: Group microprojects
Lect.26: Common lecture: Reconstructing regional patterns of streamflow – Dave Meko*
11-12 Discussion of assigned reading 4
Lab. XIV: Group microprojects and preparation of student presentations
8.30 Tour of Tree-Ring Lab – West
Stadium
10.00 Preparation of Student presentations