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Estimating the regional climate signal in a late Pleistocene and early Holocene lake-sediment δ18O record from Vermont, USA.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Maximilian Benedict Mandl ,
Bryan Nolan Shuman ,
Jeremiah Marsicek  and
Laurie Grigg
Maximilian Benedict Mandl*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3006, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Geochemie und Petrologie, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Bryan Nolan Shuman
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3006, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Jeremiah Marsicek
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3006, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Laurie Grigg
Affiliation:
Earth and Environmental Science, Norwich University, 158 Harmon Drive, Northfield, VT 05663, USA
*
* ETH Zuerich, Institut fuer Geochemie und Petrologie, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. [email protected] (M.B. Mandl)
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Abstract

We present a new oxygen isotope (δ18O) record from carbonate-rich lake sediments from central Vermont. The record from Twin Ponds spans from 13.5 cal ka BP (1950 AD) to present, but contains a 6 ka long hiatus starting shortly after 7.5 cal ka BP. We compare the record for ca. 13.5–7.5 cal ka BP with published δ18O data from the region after using a Bayesian approach to produce many possible chronologies for each site. Principal component analysis then identified chronologically-robust, multi-site oxygen isotope signals, including negative values during the Younger Dryas, but no significant deviations from the early Holocene mean of the regional records. However, differences among sites indicate significant trends that likely relate to interacting changes in the regional gradients of seasonal temperatures and precipitation as well as moisture sources, moisture pathways, and aridity that were controlled by large-scale climatic controls such as insolation, the progressive decline of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, and changes in oceanic circulation. Centennial shifts punctuate these trends at ca. 9.3 and 8.2 cal ka BP, and reveal that the local character of these short-lived features requires a detailed understanding of lake hydrology and regional isotopic gradients to yield reliable information for regional climate reconstructions.

Keywords

HoloceneOxygen isotopeCarbonateVermontLakeYounger DryasBchronPrincipal component analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 86 , Issue 1 , July 2016 , pp. 67 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © American Quaternary Association 2016 

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