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Wet early to middle Holocene conditions on the upper Coastal Plain of North Carolina, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michelle Goman  and
David S Leigh
Michelle Goman*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, 4132 Snee Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
David S Leigh
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2502, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: (607) 254-4780.E-mail address:goman@geology.cornell.edu (M. Goman).
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Abstract

A peat core from a cutoff paleochannel of Little River on the upper Coastal Plain of North Carolina provides a continuous pollen record of environmental change for the past 10,500 years and includes a sedimentary record of overbank floods. Palynological and sedimentary data indicate that the early to middle Holocene was wetter than previously suggested from lake sites in the southeastern United States. The period from 9000 to 6100 cal yr B.P. is characterized by high pollen percentages of Nyssa and Quercus, but low percentages of Pinus. Fifteen large overbank flood events are present within this period (5 floods/1000 yr). In contrast, only 6 large overbank flood events occurred since 6100 cal yr B.P. (1 flood/1000 yr). The increases in moisture and flood events probably were controlled by changes in atmospheric circulation related to shifts in the position of the Bermuda High, sea surface temperatures, and El Niño activity that together may have affected the frequency of large floods generated from tropical storms in the region.

Keywords

Southeastern United StatesClimate variabilityPaleofloodWetland sedimentsSandhills
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , May 2004 , pp. 256 - 264
Copyright
University of Washington

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