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Lichenometry on Calcareous Substrates in the Canadian Rockies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gerald Osborn  and
John Taylor
Gerald Osborn
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
John Taylor
Affiliation:
Dept. of Botany, University of California, Davis California 95616 USA
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Abstract

Lichen distribution and growth were examined at several sites in the Canadian Rockies between Mt. Robson and Banff townsite to determine the feasibility of lichenometry on calcareous deposits. The only lichen common enough to be of use is Xanthoria elegans, a bright orange lichen with round or elliptical thalli. It is not an ideal species for lichenometry because (a) it grows fairly quickly and has a range of only a few centuries, (b) growth is influenced by the presence of animal dung, (c) parts of some thalli weather away before maximum size is attained, (d) thalli may thicken as well as grow laterally with age, (e) the species is succeeded by other species relatively quickly in heavily forested environments, and (f) the species is not abundant on some deposits due to sometimes-unexplained environmental influences. However, when used with caution the species is still useful for dating purposes.

A growth curve for Xanthoria elegans was developed using moraines dated dendro-chronologically and man-made structures. After an ecesis interval of one or two decades the lichen grows at a rate of 0.68 mm/yr for several decades, then slows down to a rate of 0.22 mm/yr.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1975 , pp. 111 - 120
Copyright
University of Washington

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