Quick death of limb on Metasequoia tree

[BG1977]

My father in Ohio has a Metasequoia tree. It’s seven or eight years old from seed. He said two lower limbs have suddenly died, per pics.

I advised him to just remove them at the trunk, because that kind of foliar death doesn’t usually result in any live wood remaining. But I’m not sure what it actually is. Any guesses?

[jcguarneri]

It looks to me like it is just shedding those lower limbs. They’re shaded out and not much use to the tree any more. Every mature specimen I’ve seen has no branches for at least 10’ up the trunk.

[CA_Poppy]

Exactly what @jcguarneri said.