Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute
15 Feb 2026 at 8:38pm
The Klukwan giant belies the belief that trees tend to get smaller the farther north one goes. Both balsam poplar and cottonwood have value for fuel wood, pulp and lumber.
Northern Tree Habitats | Geophysical Institute
16 Feb 2026 at 7:25pm
Why take a chance with exotics, when native trees have proven their ability to survive? Several reasons prompt testing of foreign tree species. Human activities often create and maintain new, sometimes artificial habitats that native trees are not adapted to. Exotics may have strong wood, large fruits or straight boles that are lacking in the ...
Trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators | Geophysical Institute
14 Feb 2026 at 11:02pm
A swath of dead, tilted and broken trees now makes obvious the trace of the Fairweather fault that broke in July 1958 to devastate Lituya Bay and nearby parts of southeastern Alaska. Sagging or tilting of the ground along a fault trace causes trees there to tilt or even fall.
Visit to an exotic tree plantation in Alaska | Geophysical Institute
16 Feb 2026 at 9:27pm
These exotic trees ? some now 70 feet tall ? are a nice legacy for the men who planted shin-high seedlings years before Woodward last visited the plot in 1981. Les Viereck, a renowned ecologist who wrote Alaska Trees and Shrubs, died in 2008.
The secret life of red squirrels | Geophysical Institute
14 Feb 2026 at 2:55pm
Stan Boutin has climbed more than 5,000 spruce trees in the last 30 years. He has often returned to the forest floor knowing if a ball of twigs and moss within the tree contained newborn red squirrel pups. Over the years, those squirrels have taught Boutin and his colleagues many things, including an apparent ability to predict the future.
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute
10 Feb 2026 at 12:30pm
In an earlier column , I asked if any readers could explain why the grain in trees seemed to spiral up the trunk-in a clockwise direction. That is, spiral marks in old trees crack open from the upper right to lower left around the trunk. Professor (now Emeritus) Neil Davis, the originator of this column, posed the same question in this column over ten years ago, and it's time for an update. I ...
Burls - Geophysical Institute
13 Feb 2026 at 7:50pm
Burls weaken trees but do not kill them. The weakening effect, however, makes the trees vulnerable to other diseases which can kill them. Relatively little is known about burls, for several reasons: It takes a long time for a burl to grow--nearly as long as the tree on which it is found--so research is stretched out over a long period of time.
Hoarfrost Formation | Geophysical Institute
17 Feb 2026 at 4:29am
By late winter, intricate buildups of hoarfrost crystals have formed on wooden poles and other objects. Warming rays of the sun cause evaporation of whatever frost may have formed on the south side of vertical poles and trees. Conduction within metal poles causes enough heat transfer to entirely remove the hoarfrost crystals from the pole surface.
Feltleaf willows: Alaska?s most abundant tree | Geophysical Institute
13 Feb 2026 at 9:23pm
The range of the feltleaf willow, probably the most numerous tree in Alaska. From Alaska Trees and Shrubs by Les Viereck and Elbert L. Little, Jr.
The Kodiak Treeline | Geophysical Institute
9 Feb 2026 at 11:19am
Spruce trees planted on the islands by the Russians in 1805 are doing just fine and reseeding themselves naturally, although the total tree population hardly amounts to a forest.
WHAT IS THIS? This is an unscreened compilation of results from several search engines. The sites listed are not necessarily recommended by Surfnetkids.com.
15 Feb 2026 at 8:38pm
The Klukwan giant belies the belief that trees tend to get smaller the farther north one goes. Both balsam poplar and cottonwood have value for fuel wood, pulp and lumber.
Northern Tree Habitats | Geophysical Institute
16 Feb 2026 at 7:25pm
Why take a chance with exotics, when native trees have proven their ability to survive? Several reasons prompt testing of foreign tree species. Human activities often create and maintain new, sometimes artificial habitats that native trees are not adapted to. Exotics may have strong wood, large fruits or straight boles that are lacking in the ...
Trees as Earthquake Fault Indicators | Geophysical Institute
14 Feb 2026 at 11:02pm
A swath of dead, tilted and broken trees now makes obvious the trace of the Fairweather fault that broke in July 1958 to devastate Lituya Bay and nearby parts of southeastern Alaska. Sagging or tilting of the ground along a fault trace causes trees there to tilt or even fall.
Visit to an exotic tree plantation in Alaska | Geophysical Institute
16 Feb 2026 at 9:27pm
These exotic trees ? some now 70 feet tall ? are a nice legacy for the men who planted shin-high seedlings years before Woodward last visited the plot in 1981. Les Viereck, a renowned ecologist who wrote Alaska Trees and Shrubs, died in 2008.
The secret life of red squirrels | Geophysical Institute
14 Feb 2026 at 2:55pm
Stan Boutin has climbed more than 5,000 spruce trees in the last 30 years. He has often returned to the forest floor knowing if a ball of twigs and moss within the tree contained newborn red squirrel pups. Over the years, those squirrels have taught Boutin and his colleagues many things, including an apparent ability to predict the future.
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute
10 Feb 2026 at 12:30pm
In an earlier column , I asked if any readers could explain why the grain in trees seemed to spiral up the trunk-in a clockwise direction. That is, spiral marks in old trees crack open from the upper right to lower left around the trunk. Professor (now Emeritus) Neil Davis, the originator of this column, posed the same question in this column over ten years ago, and it's time for an update. I ...
Burls - Geophysical Institute
13 Feb 2026 at 7:50pm
Burls weaken trees but do not kill them. The weakening effect, however, makes the trees vulnerable to other diseases which can kill them. Relatively little is known about burls, for several reasons: It takes a long time for a burl to grow--nearly as long as the tree on which it is found--so research is stretched out over a long period of time.
Hoarfrost Formation | Geophysical Institute
17 Feb 2026 at 4:29am
By late winter, intricate buildups of hoarfrost crystals have formed on wooden poles and other objects. Warming rays of the sun cause evaporation of whatever frost may have formed on the south side of vertical poles and trees. Conduction within metal poles causes enough heat transfer to entirely remove the hoarfrost crystals from the pole surface.
Feltleaf willows: Alaska?s most abundant tree | Geophysical Institute
13 Feb 2026 at 9:23pm
The range of the feltleaf willow, probably the most numerous tree in Alaska. From Alaska Trees and Shrubs by Les Viereck and Elbert L. Little, Jr.
The Kodiak Treeline | Geophysical Institute
9 Feb 2026 at 11:19am
Spruce trees planted on the islands by the Russians in 1805 are doing just fine and reseeding themselves naturally, although the total tree population hardly amounts to a forest.
WHAT IS THIS? This is an unscreened compilation of results from several search engines. The sites listed are not necessarily recommended by Surfnetkids.com.
