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A Holocene pollen-inferred climate reconstruction for Vermont, USA


Abstract A 13.0 cal ka BP pollen record from Twin Ponds, Vermont, provides new insights into the climate history of the northeastern United States. Modern analogs were used to produce qualitative and quantitative climate reconstructions for Twin Ponds. The Twin Ponds record was compared with nearby Knob Hill Pond to develop a Vermont reconstruction that was compared with reconstructions from two sites at a similar latitude. Postglacial warming at 11.5 cal ka BP followed a cool, wet Younger Dryas and was the largest temperature change of the record. The warmest, driest conditions occurred at ca. 9.0 cal ka BP, followed by an increase in moisture. Latitudinal and elevational shifts in the location of modern analogs from 5.7 to 4.0 cal ka BP were used to infer cooling and increased moisture during the Tsuga canadensis decline. Analysis of the timing of pollen events between the two Vermont sites suggests a more rapid decline in T. canadensis at the more northern Knob Hill Pond and further supports the possibility that colder temperatures contributed to this event. The other northern sites show similar trends until 2.5 cal ka BP, when precipitation in the easternmost site diverges, indicating the establishment of modern climatic gradients.
Authors Laurie D. Grigg ORCID , Ioana C. Stefanescu University of WyomingORCID , Bryan N. Shuman University of WyomingORCID , W. Wyatt Oswald ORCID
Journal Info Cambridge University Press | Quaternary Research , vol: 116 , pages: 60 - 77
Publication Date 7/3/2023
ISSN 0033-5894
TypeKeyword Image article
Open Access closed Closed Access
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2023.28
KeywordsKeyword Image Paleoclimatology (Score: 0.483388)