The Neskowin Ghost Forest is the remnants of a Sitka spruce forest on the Oregon Coast of the United States. The stumps were likely created when an earthquake of the Cascadia subduction zone abruptly lowered the trees, that were then covered by mud from landslides or debris from a tsunami. [1] Many of the stumps are over 2,000 years old, preserved by the salt water, which does not favor lignin-decomposing fungus. [2]
The stumps were unearthed when turbulent storms swept away sand during the winter of 1997–1998. [3] [4] It is one of over thirty ghost forests along the Oregon and Washington Coast, though many appear as flat roots and not stumps. [5] Most notably, Washington's ghost forest of red cedars was integral to the discovery of the Cascadia fault line. [6] These ghost forests are evidence of significant, rapid changes in coastline – often due to seismic events such as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. [7]
The stumps at Neskowin are 2,000 years old, according to carbon dating. [8] While living, the trees that make up the Neskowin Ghost Forest were similar to present-day coastal rain forest. [8] They stood 150–200 feet (46–61 m) high [3] and were at least 200 years old when buried. [9] However, it's difficult to determine when or how the trees died, because it occurred before written history in the region. It was originally believed that these trees died slowly, as the roots were gradually submerged in saltwater due to changes in the sea levels. Yet research by geologists revealed that the soil, still present at the roots of the stumps, was buried abruptly [8] – indicating a more sudden and dramatic event, like an earthquake, as the cause.
The ghost forest is near Proposal Rock. It is part of the Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site. [10] The best time to see the stumps is low tide, during winter (due to January, February and March bringing the lowest tides of the year.) [11]
Neskowin is an unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, along the Pacific Ocean between Cascade Head and Nestucca Bay. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Neskowin as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. The population of the CDP was 134 at the 2010 census, a decrease from 169 at the 2000 census.
The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately 362 miles (583 km) from the California state border in the south to the Columbia River in the north. The region is not a specific geological, environmental, or political entity, and includes the Columbia River Estuary.
The Juan de Fuca Plate is a small tectonic plate (microplate) generated from the Juan de Fuca Ridge that is subducting beneath the northerly portion of the western side of the North American Plate at the Cascadia subduction zone. It is named after the explorer of the same name. One of the smallest of Earth's tectonic plates, the Juan de Fuca Plate is a remnant part of the once-vast Farallon Plate, which is now largely subducted underneath the North American Plate.
The 1700 Cascadia earthquake occurred along the Cascadia subduction zone on January 26, 1700, with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. The megathrust earthquake involved the Juan de Fuca Plate from mid-Vancouver Island, south along the Pacific Northwest coast as far as northern California. The length of the fault rupture was about 1,000 kilometers, with an average slip of 20 meters (66 ft).
The Cascadia subduction zone is a 960 km fault at a convergent plate boundary, about 112-160 km off the Pacific Shore, that stretches from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California in the United States. It is capable of producing 9.0+ magnitude earthquakes and tsunamis that could reach 30m. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management estimates shaking would last 5-7 minutes along the coast, with strength and intensity decreasing further from the epicenter. It is a very long, sloping subduction zone where the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda plates move to the east and slide below the much larger mostly continental North American Plate. The zone varies in width and lies offshore beginning near Cape Mendocino, Northern California, passing through Oregon and Washington, and terminating at about Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Natural Bridges State Beach is a 65-acre (26 ha) California state park in Santa Cruz, California, in the United States. The park features a natural bridge across a section of the beach and a eucalyptus grove provides habitat for monarch butterflies. During monarch butterfly migration, Monarch Butterfly Natural Preserve has up to 150,000 monarch butterflies from October through early February.
Pett is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Hastings on the edge of Pett Level, the one-time marshes stretching along the coast of Rye Bay.
The Sunken Forests of New Hampshire are two areas of petrified tree stumps submerged off the coast of Rye, New Hampshire, United States.
Oswald West State Park is part of the state park system of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Cannon Beach, adjacent to Arch Cape, on the Pacific Ocean. The park covers 2,448 acres (9.91 km2), with many miles of hiking trails both inside the park grounds and linking to other parks and landmarks beyond.
Oregon is 295 miles (475 km) north to south at longest distance, and 395 miles (636 km) east to west. With an area of 98,381 square miles (254,810 km2), Oregon is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. It is the ninth largest state in the United States. Oregon's highest point is the summit of Mount Hood, at 11,249 feet (3,429 m), and its lowest point is the sea level of the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon Coast. Oregon's mean elevation is 3,300 feet (1,006 m). Crater Lake National Park, the state's only national park, is the site of the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet (592 m). Oregon claims the D River as the shortest river in the world, though the state of Montana makes the same claim of its Roe River. Oregon is also home to Mill Ends Park, the smallest park in the world at 452 square inches (0.29 m2).
Hug Point State Recreation Site is a state park on the northern Oregon Coast in the U.S. state of Oregon. Administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the park is open to the public and is fee-free. Amenities at the park, which is 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Cannon Beach along U.S. Route 101, include picnicking, fishing, and a Pacific Ocean beach.
Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site is a state park administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located 3 miles (5 km) north of Waldport along the Pacific Ocean, the park offers beach access, picnicking, and fishing in a setting of shore pines and sand. It is fee-free and open year-round.
Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site is a state park in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Sunset Bay State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon. Administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, it is about 0.4 miles (0.6 km) south of Cape Arago Lighthouse and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) outside the town of Charleston on Coos Bay. The park offers a crescent shaped beach, tide pools, hiking trails and a year-round campground.
Proposal Rock is an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, in Tillamook County, near the community of Neskowin. The island is named for a local legend of a sea captain taking his beloved there to propose to her. The proposal was from Charley Gage to Della Page sometime around 1900. Della's mother, Sarah, then dubbed it Proposal Rock to mark the occasion.
Stewarts Point State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Stewarts Point State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from about a mile south of Black Point to Fisk Mill Cove, in Sonoma County on California’s north central coast. The marine protected areas cover 25.22 square miles. Stewarts Point SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources. Stewarts Point SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources, except recreational shore based take of marine aquatic plants, marine invertebrates, finfish by hook and line, surf smelt by beach net, and species authorized by Title 14 Section 28.80 by hand-held dip net.
Arch Cape is an unincorporated community in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Named for the natural arch in the coastal rocks and the headland (cape) that extends into the Pacific Ocean, it is located along the Pacific coast, approximately four miles south of Cannon Beach, between Hug Point State Recreation Site to the north and Oswald West State Park to the south.
Ghost forests are areas of dead trees in former forests, typically in coastal regions where rising sea levels or tectonic shifts have altered the height of a land mass. Forests located near the coast or estuaries may also be at risk of dying through saltwater poisoning, if invading seawater reduces the amount of freshwater that deciduous trees receive for sustenance.
Sitka Sedge State Natural Area is an estuary and beach on the north coast of the U.S. state of Oregon in Tillamook County. Sitka Sedge consists of 357 acres (144 ha) of tidal marsh, mudflats, dunes, forested wetlands, and uplands at the south end of the Sand Lake estuary, north of Tierra Del Mar.
Neskowin Creek is a short stream near the coast of the U.S. State of Oregon. It flows generally west-northwest for about 10 miles (16 km) from the west slope of Neskowin Ridge in the Northern Oregon Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean. Passing through parts of the Siuslaw National Forest in southern Tillamook County, it crosses under U.S. Route 101 and flows parallel to it until reaching Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site and the community of Neskowin. Proposal Rock, a small island near the shore, is adjacent to the mouth of the creek. Named tributaries from source to mouth are Sutton Creek, which enters from the right, Kingdom Creek from the left, then Sloan, Lewis, Jim, Prospect, and Kiwanda creeks, all from the right.
