The Goodlett-Denny mound: a glimpse at 45 years of Pennsylvania treethrow mound evolution with implications for mass wasting

A rootplate/mound formed by the uprooting of a black cherry tree (Prunus serotina) in Potter County, Pennsylvania, was photographed in 1950 near the time of formation and again in 1952 and 1963 by J.C. Goodlett and C.S. Denny. The mound was located and photographed by the author in 1989 with the aid of background trees with identifying peculiarities and using the earlier consistent perspectives. Between 1950 and 1963 most of the rootmass had decomposed, leaving a mound with an estimated volume of 5.28 m3 in 1963. By 1989 the mound had lost 60% of its 1963 height and its volume had diminished to 2.09 m3. Mean annual erosion on the mound from 1989 to 1995 was much less than during the 1963–1989 period indicating a diminishing sediment contribution to the forest floor commensurate with lowering of the mound surface.