Late glacial and early Holocene Landscapes in northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada

Abstract

The landscapes of northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada changed greatly between 14,000 and 9000 yr B.P.: deglaciation occurred, sea levels and shorelines shifted, and a vegetational transition from tundra to closed forest took place. Data from 51 14C-dated sites from a range of elevations were used to map ice and sea positions, physiognomic vegetational zones, and the spread of individual tree taxa in the region. A continuum of tundra-woodland-forest passed northeastward and northward without major hesitation or reversal. An increased rate of progression from 11,000 to 10,000 yr B.P. suggests a more rapid warming than in the prior 2000–3000 yr. Elevational gradients controlled the patterns of deglaciation and vegetational change. The earliest spread of tree taxa was via the lowlands of southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and along a coastal corridor in Maine. Only after 12,000 yr B.P. did the taxa spread northward through the rest of the area. Different tree species entered the southern part of the area at different times and continued their spread at different rates. The approximate order of arrival follows: poplars (13,000–12,000 yr B.P. in the south), spruces, paper birch, and jack pine, followed by balsam fir and larch, and possibly ironwood, ash, and elm, and somewhat later by oak, maple, white pine, and finally hemlock (10,000–9000 yr B.P. in the south).