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The Paleohydrology of Sluice Pond, NE Massachusetts, and its Regional Significance
Citation:
Hubeny, J., F. McCarthy, J. lewis, M. Drljepan, C. Morissette, J. King, M. Cantwell, N. Hudson, AND M. Crispo. The Paleohydrology of Sluice Pond, NE Massachusetts, and its Regional Significance. Journal of Paleolimnology. Springer Netherlands, , Netherlands, 53(3):271-287, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
This new record of Holocene regional hydroclimate variability adds to the spatial coverage of existing reconstructions, and helps constrain forcings associated with such variability. The lake-level reconstruction from Sluice Pond displays variability of hydroclimate conditions in northeastern MA over the latest Pleistocene and Holocene. Our analysis reveals (1) dry periods in the region prior to 8.2 ka BP, between 5.1 and 3.5 ka BP, and between 2.0 and 1.3 ka BP; and (2) asynchronicities of dry periods in northern versus southern NE, likely a result of atmospheric circulation patterns associated with the position of the circumpolar vortex.
Description:
Seismic, pollen, stable isotope and lithologic stratigraphies of Sluice Pond, northeastern Massachusetts, were investigated to reconstruct local climate conditions fromthe latest Pleistocene to present. We present a new lake-level curve, constrained largely by acoustic reflectors and well-dated sediment cores from the deep basin and margin of the lake. Bulk d34S data from the basin core provide valuable information regarding anoxia and water-column stratification. Thelake-level history is corroborated with pollen-based,transfer-function-derived reconstructions of temperature and precipitation from the basin core. The lowerstratigraphy reveals a time of cold/dry climate from ca. 11.7–8.2 ka BP (1 ka = 1,000 cal yr), with a minor lake-level increase centered at ca. 11.0 ka BP. Anincrease in regional temperature/moisture is apparent in sediments younger than 8.2 ka BP. A warm/dry climate is reconstructed from ca. 5.1–3.5 ka BP, concomitantwith the well-established regional Tsuga (eastern hemlock) minimum. Sediments deposited since 3.5 ka BP reveal a general deepening of the pond and organic-richconditions, with another minor dry episode from ca.1.3 ka BP. Uppermost sediments record anthropogenic disturbance. The hydroclimate variability inferred from the Sluice Pond sediment record is consistent with previous reconstructions of lake leveland vegetation in the southern portion of the northeastern US. It is not, however, consistent with reconstructions from locations farther north, many of whichpossess evidence of a dry period ca. 9.0–5.0 ka BP. The likely explanation for this discrepancy lies in air mass distribution associated with the position and amplitudeof the circumpolar vortex throughout the Holocene. This new record of Holocene regional hydroclimate variability adds to the spatial coverage of existing reconstructions,and helps constrain forcings associated with such variability.
