Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T05:17:28.342Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sedimentologic and palynologic records of the last deglaciation and Holocene from Ballston Lake, New York

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jaime L. Toney ,
Donald T. Rodbell  and
Norton G. Miller
Jaime L. Toney
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA
Donald T. Rodbell*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA
Norton G. Miller
Affiliation:
Biological Survey, New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1-518-388-6417.Email Address:rodbelld@union.edu (D.T. Rodbell).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Continuous pollen and sediment records from two ∼8.5-m-long cores document late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation and vegetation change in the Ballston Lake basin, eastern New York State. Pebbles at the base of both cores and the geomorphology of the watershed reflect the presence of the Mohawk River in the basin prior to ∼12,900 ± 70 cal yr B.P. Ballston Lake formed at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) by an avulsion of the Mohawk River. The transition from clay to gyttja with low magnetic susceptibility (MS), low bulk density, and high organic carbon indicates rapid warming and increased lake productivity beginning 11,020 cal yr B.P. MS measurements reveal that the influx of magnetic particles, associated with pre-Holocene clastic sedimentation, ceased after ∼10,780 cal yr B.P. The pollen record is subdivided into six zones: BL1 (12,920 to 11,020 cal yr B.P.) is dominated by boreal forest pollen; BL2 (11,020 to 10,780 cal yr B.P.) by pine (Pinus) forest pollen; BL3 (10,780 to 5290 cal yr B.P.) by hemlock (Tsuga) and mixed hardwood pollen; BL4 (5290 to 2680 cal yr B.P.) by mixed hardwood pollen; BL5a (2680 cal yr B.P. to 1030 cal yr B.P.) by conifer and mixed hardwood pollen; and BL5b (1030 cal B.P. to present) by increasing ragweed (Ambrosia) pollen. A 62% decrease in spruce (Picea) pollen in <320 cal years during BL1 reflects rapid warming at the end of the YD. Holocene pollen zones record more subtle climatic shifts than occurred at the end of the YD. One of the largest changes in the Holocene pollen spectra began ∼5300 cal yr B.P., and is characterized by a marked decline in hemlock pollen. This has been noted in other pollen records from the region and may record preferential selection of hemlock by a pathogen or parasites.

Keywords

PalynologyYounger DryasLate-glacialHolocene
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 60 , Issue 2 , September 2003 , pp. 189 - 199
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, W.T., Mullins, H.T., and Ito, E., (1997). Stable isotope record from Seneca Lake, New York. Evidence for a cold paleoclimate following the Younger Dryas. Geology 25, 135 138.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, K.D., and Fuller, J.L., (2002). Determining the age of the mid-Holocene Tsuga canadensis (hemlock) decline, eastern North America. The Holocene 12, 421 429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernabo, J.C., Webb, T. III Changing patterns in the Holocene pollen record of northeastern North America. A mapped summary. Quaternary Research 8, (1977). 64 96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Björck, S., Kromer, B., Johnsen, S., Bennike, O., Hammarlund, D., Lemdahl, G., Possnert, G., Rasmussen, T.L., Wohlfarth, B., Hammer, C.U., and Spurk, M., (1996). Synchronized terrestrial–atmospheric deglacial records around the North Atlantic. Science 274, 1155 1160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braun, E.L., (1964). Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. Hafner, New York/London.Google Scholar
Connally, G.G., and Sirkin, L.A., (1971). Luzerne Readvance near Glens Falls, New York. Geological Society of America Bulletin 82, 989 1008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cwynar, L.C., Levesque, A.J., Mayle, F.E., and Walker, I., (1994). Wisconsinan late glacial environmental change in New Brunswick. A regional synthesis. Journal of Quaternary Science 9, 161 164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cwynar, L.C., and Spear, R.W., (2001). Late glacial climate change in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 1265 1274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dansgaard, W., Johnsen, S., Clausen, H., Dahl-Jensen, D., Gundestrup, N., Hammer, C., Hvidberg, C., Steffensen, J., Sveinbjornsdottir, A., Jouzel, J., and Bond, G., (1993). Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record. Nature 364, 218 220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, M.B., (1967). Pollen accumulation rates at Rogers Lake, Connecticut during the late and postglacial time. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 2, 219 230.Google Scholar
Davis, M.B., (1981). Quaternary History and the Stability of Forest Communities. West, D.C., Shugart, H.H., and Botkin, D. Forest Succession: Concepts and Application. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Davis, R.B., Jacobson, G.L. Jr. Late glacial and early Holocene landscapes in northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada. Quaternary Research 23, (1985). 341 368.Google Scholar
Faegri, K., and Iversen, J., (1975). Textbook of Pollen Analysis. third ed Munksgaard, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Foster, D.R., and Zebryk, T.M., (1993). Long-term vegetation dynamics and disturbance history of Tsuga-dominated forest in New England. Ecology 74, 982 998.Google Scholar
Gaudreau, D.G., (1986). Late-Quaternary Vegetational History of the Northeast: Paleoecological Implications of Topographic Patterns in Pollen Distribution. Ph.D. dissertation. Yale University, Google Scholar
Gaudreau, D.C., Webb, T. III Late-Quaternary pollen stratigraphy and isochrone maps for the northeastern United States. Bryant, V.M., and Holloway, R.G., (1985). Pollen Records of Late-Quaternary North American Sediments. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation, Dallas. 247 280.Google Scholar
Grootes, P.M., Stuiver, M., White, J.W.C., Johnsen, S., and Jouzel, J., (1993). Comparison of oxygen isotope records from the GISP2 and GRIP Greenland ice cores. Nature 366, 552 554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isachsen, Y.W., Fisher, D.W., (1970). Geologic Map of New York, New York State Museum Map and Chart Series. No. 15. Albany.Google Scholar
Jacobson, G.L. Jr., and Bradshaw, R.H.W., (1981). The selection of sites for paleovegetational studies. Quaternary Research 16, 80 96.Google Scholar
Johnsen, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Dansgaard, W., Fuhrer, K., Gundestrup, N., Hammer, C.U., Iversen, P., Jouzel, J., Stauffer, B., and Steffensen, J.P., (1992). Irregular glacial interstadials recorded in a new Greenland ice core. Nature 359, 311 313.Google Scholar
Kurek, J., Cwynar, L., and Spear, R.W., (2002). A high-resolution Holocene climatic record from the White Mountains of eastern North America. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 34, 1 A-23 Google Scholar
LaFleur, R.G., (1965). Glacial Lake sequences in the eastern Mohawk-northern Hudson Region. Hewitt, P.C., and Hall, L.M. New York State Geological Association 37th Annual Meeting. Union College, Schenectady, NY. C1 C23.Google Scholar
Lehman, S.J., and Keigwin, L.D., (1992). Sudden changes in North Atlantic circulation during the last deglaciation. Nature 356, 757 762.Google Scholar
Maenza-Gmelch, T.E., (1997). Holocene vegetation, climate, and fire history of the Hudson Highlands, southeastern New York, USA. Holocene 7, 25 37.Google Scholar
Maenza-Gmelch, T.E., (1997). Vegetation, climate, and fire during the late-glacial–Holocene transition at Spruce Pond, Hudson Highlands, southeastern New York. Journal of Quaternary Science 12, 15 24.3.0.CO;2-T>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangerud, J., Andersen, S.T., Berglund, B.E., and Donner, J.J., (1974). Quaternary stratigraphy of Norden, a proposal for terminology and classification. Boreas 3, 109 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangerud, J., Larsen, E., Longva, O., and Sønstegaard, E., (1979). Glacial history of western Norway 15,000–10,000 B.P. Boreas 8, 179 187.Google Scholar
Mayewski, P.A., Meeker, L.D., Whitlow, S., Twickler, M.S., Morrison, M.C., Alley, R.B., Bloomfield, P., and Taylor, K., (1993). The atmosphere during the Younger Dryas. Science 261, 195 197.Google Scholar
Mc Andrews, J.H., Berti, A., Norris, G., (1973). Key to the Quaternary Pollen and Spores of the Great Lakes Region. Royal Ontario Museum of Life Sciences, Miscellaneous Publication, Google Scholar
Miller, N.G., (1973). Late-Glacial and Post-glacial Vegetation Change in Southwestern New York State. New York State Museum and Science Service Bulletin 420 Google Scholar
Miller, N.G., and Spear, R., (1999). Late-Quaternary history of the alpine flora of the New Hampshire White Mountains. Géographie physique et Quaternaire 53, 137 157.Google Scholar
Overpeck, J.T., (1985). A pollen study of a late Quaternary peat bog, south-central Adirondack Mountains, New York. Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, 145 154.Google Scholar
Peteet, D.M., Vogel, J.S., Nelson, D.E., Southon, J.R., Nickmann, R.J., and Heusser, L.E., (1990). Younger Dryas climatic reversal in northeastern USA? AMS ages for an old problem. Quaternary Research 33, 219 230.Google Scholar
Peteet, D.M., Daniels, R.A., Heusser, L.E., Vogel, J.S., Southon, J.R., and Nelson, D.E., (1993). Late-glacial pollen, macrofossils and fish remains in northeastern U.S.A.— The Younger Dryas oscillation. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 597 612.Google Scholar
Shane, L.C.K., (1987). Late-glacial vegetational and climatic history of the Allegheny Plateau and the till plains of Ohio and Indiana, USA. Boreas 16, 1 20.Google Scholar
Shane, L.C.K., and Anderson, K.H., (1993). Intensity, gradients and reversals in late glacial environmental change in east-central North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 12, 307 320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J., (1993). Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, 215 230.Google Scholar
Warren, C.R., Stone, B.D., (1986). Deglaciation stratigraphy, mode and timing of the eastern flank of the Hudson-Champlain lobe in western Massachusetts. in: Cadwell, D.H. (Ed.), The Wisconsinan Stage of the First Geological District, Eastern New York., New York State Museum Bulletin 455. pp. 168–192.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III, and Bryson, R.A., (1972). Late- and post-glacial climatic change in the northern Midwest, USA. Quantitative estimates derived from fossil pollen spectra by multivariate statistical analysis. Quaternary Research 2, 70 115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, D.R., (1979). Late-glacial and postglacial vegetational history of the Berkshires, western Massachusetts. Quaternary Research 12, 333 357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr. The amphi-Atlantic distribution of the Younger Dryas paleoclimatic oscillation. Quaternary Science Reviews 8, (1989). 295 306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar