Comparison of multiple proxy records of Holocene environments in the Midwestern United States

R G Baker; L A Gonzalez; M Raymo; E A Bettis III; M K Reagan; J A Dorale

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<1131:COMPRO>2.3.CO;2

Back

Comparison of multiple proxy records of Holocene environments in the Midwestern United States

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Comparison of multiple proxy records of Holocene environments in the Midwestern United States

R G Baker, L A Gonzalez, M Raymo, E A Bettis III, M K Reagan and J A Dorale

Geology (Boulder), Vol.26(12), pp.1131-1134

12/1998

DOI: 10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<1131:COMPRO>2.3.CO;2

View Online

Abstract

We compare four emerging approaches to reconstructing Holocene vegetation and climate from south of the glacial border in northeastern Iowa, United States. Pollen, plant macrofossils, carbon isotopic (delta (super 13) C) values from alluvial organic matter, and carbon isotopic values in stalagmites from a nearby cave all show similar paleovegetational and paleoclimatic trends during the Holocene. Pollen and plant macrofossils show a rapid change from forest to prairie about 6000 cal. yr B.P., followed by a return of oaks to a presumably savanna-like community about 3500 cal. yr B.P. The delta (super 13) C values in alluvial organic matter and the percentage of C (sub 4) plants both increase ca. 6300 cal. yr B.P., and then decrease in the last 3500 years. In the cave, delta (super 13) C values rise beginning at 6000 cal. yr B.P. to a broad peak ca. 4500 to 3000 cal. yr B.P., and decrease thereafter. Pollen and plant macrofossils record the composition of the vegetation that produced the isotopic signals, and verify C (sub 3) -C (sub 4) interpretations based on the isotopic records. We demonstrate that these methods are complementary, but that any single method will provide an accurate reconstruction of past environments.

United States

C-13/C-12

carbon

Cenozoic

floral studies

Holocene

Iowa

isotope ratios

isotopes

microfossils

Midwest

miospores

northeastern Iowa

paleoclimatology

palynomorphs

Plantae

pollen

Quaternary

Quaternary geology

reconstruction

speleothems

stable isotopes

stalagmites

succession

vegetation

Details

Title: Subtitle: Comparison of multiple proxy records of Holocene environments in the Midwestern United States
Creators: R G Baker - University of Iowa
L A Gonzalez - University of Iowa
M Raymo - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
E A Bettis III - University of Iowa
M K Reagan - University of Iowa
J A Dorale - University of Minnesota
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Geology (Boulder), Vol.26(12), pp.1131-1134
Publisher: Geological Society of America (GSA)
DOI: 10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<1131:COMPRO>2.3.CO;2
ISSN: 0091-7613
eISSN: 1943-2682
Language: English
Date published: 12/1998
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Mathematics
Record Identifier: 9984229167702771

Metrics

6 Record Views

33 Times Cited - Web of Science