
Tropical Fossils in Alaska | Geophysical Institute
3 days ago · Paleobotanist Jack A. Wolfe of the United States Geological Survey at Menlo Park, California, has found a number of tropical rain forest fossils along the eastern Gulf of Alaska. …
Cottonwood and Balsam Poplar | Geophysical Institute
3 days ago · 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
Nov 6, 2025 · 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 …
Black Spruce | Geophysical Institute
Nov 6, 2025 · Somehow black spruce trees seem like the jackasses of the northern forests--sort of ungainly looking, ugly little beasts that somehow can survive under conditions prohibitive to …
More on Why Tree Trunks Spiral | Geophysical Institute
Nov 6, 2025 · 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 …
The largest black spruce in Alaska | Geophysical Institute
Aug 16, 2010 · The Alaska champion black spruce tree stands on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The tree lives in a mixed forest next to large white spruce trees, mature …
The Kodiak Treeline | Geophysical Institute
Nov 6, 2025 · 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.
Feltleaf willows: Alaska’s most abundant tree | Geophysical Institute
May 25, 2023 · 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.
Tamarack -- Not A Dead Spruce | Geophysical Institute
Nov 6, 2025 · When one of these trees finds itself on a better site, however, it shows a remarkable change of pace. Individual tamarack growing in white spruce stands may achieve a size …
New way to spot beetle-killed spruce can help forest, wildfire …
Jun 12, 2024 · A new machine-learning system developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks can automatically produce detailed maps from satellite data to show locations of likely beetle …