Dendrochronological Mass Balance Reconstruction, Strathcona Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

A long-term proxy record of glacier mass balance was developed for Colonel Foster and Septimus glaciers on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. This was accomplished by analyzing the radial growth characteristics of climatically-sensitive mountain hemlock trees (Tsuga mertensiana), and by comparing this response with mass balance records from four glaciers in the Pacific Northwest. A strong (negative) relationship between the two records for the period 1966–1994 provides the basis for a mass balance reconstruction extending back to 1600. The reconstruction is in general agreement with information derived from dated moraine sequences at the two glaciers on Vancouver Island, and it has potential applicability to glaciers in adjacent areas of coastal Pacific North America. Our results highlight the likely influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) on glacier dynamics during the mid- to late-Little Ice Age (LIA) and provide the groundwork for long-term glaciohydrologic studies.