This cool sandstone glade area is home to a nice stand of Boynton’s Oak (Quercus boyntonii), which is an endemic (to Alabama) oak. Most of the Boynton’s oaks at the site are only about 4-5 feet tall at most and tree-ring dating indicates they are between 75-120 years old. https://www.auburn.edu/cosam/arboretum/apca/projects/boyntons_oak.htm
Work by the DRL was described in a recent issue of “Stones and Bones” the newsletter of the Alabama Archaeological Society. The article “A Living Witness to the Battle?” by Eric Frey- Park Ranger at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park describes tree-ring dating of and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) tree at the battlefield that predates
My colleagues and I will be giving talks and hosting sessions on Paleofloods at next weeks AAG meeting. Come hear all about it! Past Perspectives on River Environments 1: Flood Reconstructions in Locations Outside the U.S. Napoleon B2, Sheraton 3rd Floor 08:00 am Past Perspectives on River Environments 2: Flood Reconstructions in the Mississippi River
A UA News feature covers our recent Nature paper on Mississippi River flooding “More than Climate, Engineering Worsening Flooding Along Mississippi” “TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Through discovering ancient floods along the Mississippi River, a group of scientists, including a University of Alabama professor, found human-led engineering, not climate, is the largest influence on worsening floods.”
Super excited that US EPA will be funding our project on streamflow reconstruction in Alabama watersheds (Increasing community resilience in coastal watersheds of Alabama by risk assessment of past, present and future trends in hydrologic and hydroclimatic extremes). It is imperative that Alabama develop a comprehensive state water policy and understanding the long-term variability of
Interesting story in the Washington Post about infrastructure and flooding on the Mississippi River.
Saw a beautiful old Lighthouse in the Big Bend country of FL the other day. The St. Marks lighthouse is apparently the 2nd oldest in FL having been at this location since 1842.
Took my physical geography class up to Moss Rock Preserve to check out the Fort Payne sandstone glades. There are some really nice old growth longleaf pine up there as well as very old looking virginia pines and some blackjack oak. There are some great waterfalls in the park as well.
Another cool article led by our collaborator Jon Remo at SIU as part of our Mississippi River flood ring project. It explores the spatiotemporal patterns, rates, and volume of sedimentation within the batture lands along the middle Mississippi River (MMR; between the confluence of the Missouri and Ohio rivers) using several approaches including dendrogeomorphological methods. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.02.010
A really important paper that looks at the impact of infrastructure on streamflow on the Mississippi. This work is part of our larger Mississippi River flood ring project. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.01.004