Long-term tree ring oxygen and carbon isotope dataset from Tern Lake thermal area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

Original purpose of project: This data was collected to understand the evolution of the Tern Lake thermal area, which first became apparent from satellite imagery in the early 2000s. The rapid expansion of the thermal area within a (at the time) healthy and typical pine forest provided a unique opportunity to study vegetation responses to changing volcanic degassing conditions.

Three of these trees (T3, T4, and T8) are surviving live trees within the thermal area, T9 is a dead tree within the thermal area, and T14 and T15 are located in a nearby healthy forest unaffected by the thermal area. We separated the annual rings and conducted stable carbon, stable oxygen, and radiocarbon isotope analyses at UQAM and UC Irvine to track the physiological responses of the trees over time to changing degassing conditions and the amount of magmatic carbon they were exposed to each year.