Chronology of a Kettle-Hole Peat Bog, Cherryfield, Maine

Abstract

Parts of coastal and central Maine underwent marine submergence between approximately 13,500 and 12,500 yrs ago. An ice-contact marine delta near Cherryfield, Maine, was formed during this time. Ten radiocarbon dates of basal peat samples from a kettle hole on the delta ranged from 5,310 ± 100 yrs B.P. at a depth of 2.21 m to 9,170 ± 160 yrs B.P. at a depth of 5.28 m. Peat from depths of 5.55 m yielded dates within the statistical error of the oldest date. The radiocarbon dates indicate a time lag of approximately 2,000 yrs between the formation of the delta and the earliest deposition of organic matter in the kettle hole.