Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Geology and Geography

Committee Chair

Amy Hessl.

Abstract

The following dissertation is composed of three separate manuscripts with the overall theme of hydroclimate reconstructions of the Potomac River Basin. The first manuscript investigated two methods of crossdating eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) and examined the dendroclimatic response of earlywood, latewood, and total ring-width. In the second manuscript, May precipitation for West Virginia Climate Region 6 was reconstructed using two millennial-length eastern redcedar chronologies from 750-1998. Comparisons were made to other paleoclimate proxy records of moisture in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The final manuscript focused on a multi-species reconstruction of Potomac River streamflow from 950-2001. In this manuscript, species importance in the reconstruction model was examined and the frequency, intensity, and duration of drought and pluvial events were calculated for water resources management. Each manuscript, or chapter, has its own abstract and has been formatted for publication in a specific journal.

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