Abstract
As the climate was warming during the last deglaciation, a millennium-long return to near-glacial conditions—called the Younger Dryas (YD) stadial—occurred about 12.9 to 11.7 ka ago. Prior studies have characterized the vegetation and climatic impacts of the YD stadial in the US upper Midwest from a network of fossil pollen records. The goal of this study was to locate the pronounced rise in organic matter and Pinus (pine) pollen—associated with the latter part of the YD event—in a sediment core from Silver Lake, a kettle lake in Summit County, Ohio. Based upon radiocarbon dating of the Silver Lake sediment core, an increase in sediment organic matter at 1,070 cm (35.1 ft) core depth dates to 12,130 calibrated years (cal yr) BP within the latter part of the YD stadial. A pollen study spanning the change in organic matter displays a gradual decline in Picea (spruce) pollen as well as a pronounced increase in Pinus pollen, similar to published records of the latter part of the YD event. Thus, the Silver Lake pollen record adds a new site to the network of fossil pollen sites, and further refines the vegetation changes within the Allegheny Plateau of Ohio that occurred during the latter part of the YD event. Furthermore, identifying the pronounced rise in Pinus pollen allows for biostratigraphic correlation between the Silver Lake record and another local dated pollen record. This biocorrelation adds further support to the Silver Lake radiometric age model.
Highlights
OHIO J SCI 120(2):30-38Pollen preserved in lake sediments can be used to characterize past climates, because the plants reflect specific temperature and moisture conditions present at the time of their growth (Webb et al 1993; Bennett and Willis 2001)
The Younger Dryas (YD) stadial was an abrupt return to near-glacial conditions that persisted from about 12,900 to 11,700 calibrated years ago (Alley 2000; Carlson 2013)
A pollen record was produced from the sediment of Silver Lake, Summit County, Ohio, that had been radiometrically dated to the YD stadial
Summary
OHIO J SCI 120(2):30-38Pollen preserved in lake sediments can be used to characterize past climates, because the plants reflect specific temperature and moisture conditions present at the time of their growth (Webb et al 1993; Bennett and Willis 2001). There are, limitations to pollen as a recorder of past climatic change; for example, wind-dispersed pollen producing large, often overrepresented, amounts of pollen within sediment records compared to insect-dispersed pollen (Bennett and Willis 2001). Despite these limitations, pollen records have been successfully used to reconstruct climate change and provide insight into the underlying forcing mechanisms (Shane and Anderson 1993; Webb et al 1993; Shuman et al 2002; Gonzales and Grimm 2009; Gill et al 2012).
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