Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Late-Glacial and Holocene Record of Lake Levels of Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake, Northern Maine, USA

  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Paleohydrology studies at Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake in northern Maine revealed synchronous changes in lake levels from about 12,000 14C yrs BP to the present. We analyzed gross sediment structure, organic and carbonate content, mineral grain size, and macrofossils of six cores from each of the two lakes, and obtained 72 radiocarbon dates. Interpretation of this paleo-environmental data suggests that the late-glacial and Younger Dryas climate was dry, and lake levels were low. Early Holocene lake levels were considerably higher but declined for an interval from about 8000 to 7200 14C yrs BP. Sediment of both lakes contains evidence of a dry period at ∼7400 14C yrs BP (8200 cal yr). Lake levels of both sites declined abruptly about 4800 14C yrs BP and remained low until 3000 14C yrs BP. Modern lake levels were achieved only within the past 600 years. The west-to-east, time-transgressive nature of lake-level changes from several sites across northeastern North America suggests periodic changes in atmospheric circulation patterns as a driving force behind observed moisture balance changes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • M.D. Abbott A. Lini P.R. Berman (2000) ArticleTitleδ18O, δD and 3H measurements constrain groundwater recharge pattern in an upland fractured bedrock aquiferVermontUSA J. Hydro. 228 101–112 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00149-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.B. Alley P.A. Masc T. Sowers M. Striver K.C. Taylor P.U. Clark (1997) ArticleTitleHolocene climate instability: a prominentwidespread event 8200 yr ago Geology 25 483–486 Occurrence Handle10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0483:HCIAPW>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H. Almquist A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall R. Flanagan-Brown D. Sanger (2001) ArticleTitleThe Holocene record of lake levels of Mansell Pondcentral MaineUSA The Holocene 11 189–201 Occurrence Handle10.1191/095968301677768783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.S. Anderson G.L. Jacobson SuffixJr. R.B. Davis R. Stuckenrath (1992) ArticleTitleGould PondMaine: late-glacial transitions from marine to upland environments Boreas 21 359–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Arno J.R. 1964. Soil Survey of Aroostook County, MaineSouthern Part. United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation ServiceSoil Survey Series 1961, No. 6.

  • P. Baker G. Seltzer S. Fritz R. Dunbar M. Grove P. Tapia S. Cross H. Rowe J. Broda (2001) ArticleTitleThe history of South American tropical precipitation for the past 25,000 years Science 291 640–643 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.291.5504.640 Occurrence Handle11158674

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R.G. Baker L.J. Maher C.A. Chumbley K.L. Van Zant (1992) ArticleTitlePatterns of Holocene environmental changes in the midwestern United States Quat. Res. 37 379–389

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Balco D.F. Belknap J.T. Kelley (1998) ArticleTitleGlaciostasy and lake-level change at Moosehead LakeMaine Quat. Res. 49 157–170 Occurrence Handle10.1006/qres.1998.1962

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J.U.L. Baldini F. McDermott I.J. Fairchild (2002) ArticleTitleStructure of the 8200-year cold event revealed by a speleothem trace element record Science 296 2203–2206 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.1071776 Occurrence Handle12077412

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • D.C. Barber A. Dyke C. Hillaire-Marcel A.E. Jennings J.T. Andrews M.W. Kerwin G. Bilodeau R. McNeely J. Southon M.D. Morehead J.M. Gagnon (1999) ArticleTitleForcing of the cold event of 8,200 years ago by catastrophic drainage of Laurentide lakes Nature 400 344–348 Occurrence Handle10.1038/22504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W.A. Barnhardt W.R. Gehrels D.F. Belknap J.T. Kelley (1995) ArticleTitleLate Quaternary relative sea-level change in the western Gulf of Maine: evidence for a migrating glacial forebulge Geology 23 317–320 Occurrence Handle10.1130/0091-7613(1995)023<0317:LQRSLC>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • L. Bengtsson M. Enell (1986) Chemical analysis B.E. Berglund (Eds) Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology John Wiley Chichester 423–454

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Bond W. Shower M. Cheseby R. Lotti P. Almasi P. deMenocal P. Priore H. Cullen I. Hajdas G. Bonani (1997) ArticleTitleA pervasive millennial-scale cycle in North Atlantic Holocene and Glacial Climates Science 278 1257–1266 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.278.5341.1257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S.M. Born S.A. Smith D.A. Stephenson (1979) ArticleTitleHydrogeology of glacial-terrain lakes with management and planning applications J. Hydrol. 43 7–43 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0022-1694(79)90163-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.A. Bryson (1966) ArticleTitleAir masses, streamlines, and the boreal forest Geogr. Bull. 8 228–269

    Google Scholar 

  • R.A. Bryson F.K. Hare (1974) Climates of North America R.A. Bryson F.K. Hare (Eds) Climates of North America Elsevier NY 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • C. Carcaillet P.J.H. Richard (2000) ArticleTitleHolocene changes in seasonal precipitation highlighted by fire incidence in eastern Canada Climate Dynamics 16 549–559 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s003820000062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chase G.E. 2004. Late-glacial chironomid assemblages in northern Maine. M.S. Thesis, University of Maine, 36 pp.

  • C.V. Cogbill (1985) Evaluation of the forest history and old-growth nature of the Big Reed Pond PreserveT8 R10 and T8 R11 W.E.L.S., Maine The Nature Conservancy Brunswick, Maine

    Google Scholar 

  • P.T. Coolidge (1963) History of the Maine Woods Furbush-Roberts BangorMaine

    Google Scholar 

  • G.E. Crow C.B. Hellquist (2000) Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Northeastern North America2 vols University of Wisconsin Press Madison 880

    Google Scholar 

  • L.C. Cwynar A.J. Levesque (1995) ArticleTitleChironomid evidence for late-glacial climatic reversals in Maine Quat. Res. 43 405–413 Occurrence Handle10.1006/qres.1995.1046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W. Dansgaard S.J. Johnsen H.B. Clausen D. Dahl-Jensen N. Gundestrup C.U. Hammer H. Oeschger (1984) North Atlantic climatic oscillations revealed by deep Greenland ice cores J.E. Hansen T. Takahashi (Eds) Climate Processes and Climate Sensitivity American Geophysical Union Washington, DC 288–298

    Google Scholar 

  • W. Dansgaard S.J. Johnsen H.B. Clausen D. Dahl-Jensen N. Gundestrup C.U. Hammer C. Hvidberg J. Steffensen A. Svienbjornsdottir J. Jouzel G. Bong (1993) ArticleTitleEvidence for general instability in past climate from a 250 kyr ice-core record Nature 364 218–220 Occurrence Handle10.1038/364218a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.B. Davis G.L. Jacobson SuffixJr. (1985) ArticleTitleLate glacial and early Holocene landscapes in northern New England and adjacent areas of Canada Quat. Res. 23 341–368 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0033-5894(85)90040-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W.B. Dean (1974) ArticleTitleDetermination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods J. Sed. Petrol. 44 IssueID1 242–248

    Google Scholar 

  • J.A. Dearing (1997) ArticleTitleSedimentary indicators of lake-level changes in the humid temperate zone: a critical review J. Paleolimnol. 18 1–14 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1007916210820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P. deMenocal J. Ortiz T. Guilderson M. Sarnthein (2000) ArticleTitleCoherent high- and low-latitude climate variability during the Holocene warm period Science 288 2198–2202 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.288.5474.2198 Occurrence Handle10864866

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • G. Denton W. Karlén (1973) ArticleTitleHolocene climatic variations: their pattern and possible cause Quat. Res. 3 155–205 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0033-5894(73)90040-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall W.A. Halteman (2000) ArticleTitleThe relationship of modern plant remains to water depth in alkaline lakes in New EnglandUSA J. Paleolimnol. 24 213–229 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1008164614818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • G. Digerfeldt (1986) Studies on past lake-level fluctuations B.E. Berglund (Eds) Handbook of Holocene Palaeoecology and Palaeohydrology John Wiley and Sons ChichesterUK 127–143

    Google Scholar 

  • G. Digerfeldt J.E. Almendinger S. Björck (1992) ArticleTitleReconstruction of past lake levels and their relation to groundwater hydrology in the Parkers Prairie sandplain, west- central Minnesota Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 94 99–118 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0031-0182(92)90115-L

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Y. Enzel L. Ely S. Mishra R. Ramesh R. Amit B. Lazar S. Rajaguru V. Baker A. Sandler (1999) ArticleTitleHigh-resolution Holocene environmental changes in the Thar DesertNorthwestern India Science 284 125–128 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.284.5411.125 Occurrence Handle10102808

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • F. Gasse (2000) ArticleTitleHydrological changes in the African tropics since the last glacial maximum Quat. Sci. Rev. 19 189–211 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0277-3791(99)00061-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Grimm (1994) TILIA and TILIAGRAPH Pollen Diagramming Program Illinois State Museum SpringfieldIL

    Google Scholar 

  • E.C. Grimm G.L. Jacobson ParticleJr. (2004) Late Quaternary vegetation history of the eastern United States A.R. Gillespie S.C. Porter B.F. Atwater (Eds) The Quaternary Period in the United States Elsevier Boston 381–402

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Grimm G.L. Jacobson SuffixJr. W.A. Watts B. Hansen K. Maasch (1993) ArticleTitleA 50,000 year record of climate oscillations from Florida correlated with North Atlantic Heinrich events Science 261 198–200

    Google Scholar 

  • B.A. Hall (1970) Stratigraphy of the Southern End of the Munsungun AnticlinoriumMaine Augusta Maine 23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • G.E. Hannon M.J. Gaillard (1997) ArticleTitleThe plant-macrofossil record of past lake-level changes J. Paleolimnol. 18 15–28 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1007958511729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • S.P. Harrison (1989) ArticleTitleLake levels and climatic change in eastern North America Climate Dynamics 3 157–167 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF01080366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C.J. Heusser S.S. Streeter (1980) ArticleTitleA temperature and precipitation record for the past 16,000 years in southern Chile Science 210 1345–1347

    Google Scholar 

  • D. Hodell M. Brenner S. Kanfoush J. Curtis J. Stoner S. Xueliang W. Yuan T. Whitmore (1999) ArticleTitlePaleoclimate of southwestern China for the past 50,000 years inferred from lake sediment records Quat. Res. 52 369–380 Occurrence Handle10.1006/qres.1999.2072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • N.H. Holmgren (1998) Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist’s Manual: Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada New York Botanical Garden NY 937

    Google Scholar 

  • J. Kennett B. Ingram (1995) ArticleTitleA 20,000-year record of ocean circulation and climate change from the Santa Barbara Basin Nature 377 510–514 Occurrence Handle10.1038/377510a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J. Kurek L. Cwynar R.W. Spear (2004) ArticleTitleThe 8200 cal yr BP cooling event in eastern North America and the utility of midge analysis for Holocene temperature reconstructions Quat. Sci. Rev. 23 627–639 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00211-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Lavoie P.J.H. Richard (2000) ArticleTitlePostglacial water-level changes of a small lake in southern Quebec, Canada The Holocene 10 621–634 Occurrence Handle10.1191/095968300672141865

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.J. Levesque F.E. Mayle I.R. Walker L.C. Cwynar (1993) ArticleTitleA previously unrecognized late-glacial cold event in eastern North America Nature 361 623–626 Occurrence Handle10.1038/361623a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • P.E.M. Lévesque H. Dinel A. Larouche (1988) Guide to the Identification of Plant Macrofossils in Canadian Peatlands Land Resource Research Centre Ottawa 65

    Google Scholar 

  • T.V. Lowell C.J. Heusser B.G. Anderson P.I. Moreno A. Hauser L.E. Heusser C. Schluchter D.R. Marchant G.H. Denton (1995) ArticleTitleInterhemispheric correlation of late Pleistocene glacial events Science 269 95–198 Occurrence Handle7604286

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • W.J. Lucas (1983) ArticleTitlePhotosynthetic assimilation of exogenous HCO3 − by aquatic plants Ann. Rev. Pl. Physiol. 34 71–104 Occurrence Handle10.1146/annurev.pp.34.060183.000443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • T.V. Madsen K. Sand-Jensen (1991) ArticleTitlePhotosynthetic carbon assimilation in aquatic macrophytes Aquat. Bot. 41 5–40 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0304-3770(91)90037-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.C. Martin W.D. Barkley (1961) Seed Identification Manual University of California Press Berkeley 221

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Maslin S. Burns (2000) ArticleTitleReconstruction of the Amazon Basin effective moisture availability over the past 14,000 years Science 290 2285–2294 Occurrence Handle11125137

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • M.S. McBride H.O. Pfannkuch (1975) ArticleTitleThe distribution of seepage within lake beds J. Res. U.S. Geol. Survey 3 505–512

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahon J.S. 1990. The biophysical regions of Maine: patterns in the landscape and vegetation. M.S. Thesis University of Maine, 120 pp.

  • F.H. Montgomery (1977) Seeds and Fruits of Plants of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States University of Toronto Press Toronto 232

    Google Scholar 

  • B.J. Moorman (2001) Ground penetrating radar applications in paleolimnology W.M. Last J.P. Smol (Eds) Basin Analysis, Coring, and Chronological Techniques, Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments, Vol. 1 Kluwer Academic Publishers DordrechtThe Netherlands 23–47

    Google Scholar 

  • S.D. Muller P.J.H. Richard J. Guiot J.-L. de Beaulieu D. Fortin (2003) ArticleTitlePostglacial climate in the St. Lawrence lowlands, southern Québec: pollen and lake-level evidence Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclim. Palaeoecol. 193 51–72 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0031-0182(02)00710-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H.T. Mullins (1998) ArticleTitleEnvironmental change controls of lacustrine carbonateCayuga LakeNew York Geology 2 443–446 Occurrence Handle10.1130/0091-7613(1998)026<0443:ECCOLC>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A.J. Noren P.R. Bierman E.J. Steig A. Lini J. Southon (2002) ArticleTitleMillennial-scale storminess variability in the northeastern United States during the Holocene epoch Nature 419 821–823 Occurrence Handle10.1038/nature01132 Occurrence Handle12397353

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • P.E. Newby P. Killoran M.R. Waldorf B.N. Shuman R.S. Webb T. Webb (2000) ArticleTitle14,000 years of sedimentvegetation, and water-level changes at the Makepeace Cedar Swamp, southeastern Massachusetts Quat. Res. 53 352–368 Occurrence Handle10.1006/qres.1999.2120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prins H.B.A. and Elzenga J.T.M. 1989. Bicarbonate utilization: function and mechanism. Aquat. Bot. 34: 59–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • H.B.A. Prins J.T.M. Elzenga (1989) ArticleTitleBicarbonate utilization: function and mechanism Aquat. Bot. 34 59–83 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0304-3770(89)90050-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • H.B.A. Prins J.F.H. Snel R.J. Helder P.E. Zanstra (1980) ArticleTitlePhotosynthetic HCO- 3 utilization and OH− excretion in aquatic angiosperms Pl. Physiol. 66 818–822

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Schauffler G.L. Jacobson SuffixJr. (2002) ArticleTitlePersistence of coastal spruce refugia during the Holocene in northern New EnglandUSAdetected by stand-scale pollen stratigraphies J. Ecol. 90 235–250 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00656.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Shuman (2003) ArticleTitleControls on loss-on-ignition variation in cores from two shallow lakes in the northeastern United States J. Paleolimnol. 30 371–385 Occurrence Handle10.1023/B:JOPL.0000007226.68831.e3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B. Shuman J. Bravo J. Kaye J.A. Lynch P. Newby T. Webb (2001) ArticleTitleLate Quaternary water-level variations and vegetation history at Crooked Pondsoutheastern Massachusetts Quat. Res. 56 401–410 Occurrence Handle10.1006/qres.2001.2273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • M. Stuiver P.J. Reimer E. Bard J.W. Beck G.S. Burr K.A. Hughen B. Kromer F.G. McCormac J. v.d. Plight M. Spurk (1998a) ArticleTitleINTCA L98 radiocarbon age calibration Radiocarbon 40 1041–1083

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Stuiver P.J. Reimer T. F. Braziunas (1998b) ArticleTitleHigh-precision radiocarbon age calibration for terrestrial and marine samples Radiocarbon 40 1127–1151

    Google Scholar 

  • W.C. Taylor N.T. Luebke D.M. Britton R.J. Hickey D.F. Brunton (1993) Isoëtaceae ReichenbachQuillwort family N.T. Morin (Eds) Flora of North America North of MexicoVol. 2 Oxford University Press NY 64–75

    Google Scholar 

  • D.W.J. Thompson J.M. Wallace (2001) ArticleTitleRegional climate impacts of the northern hemisphere annular mode Science 293 85–89 Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.1058958 Occurrence Handle11441178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • L. Thompson E. Mosley-Thompson M. Davis P.N. Lin K. Henderson J. Cole-Dai J. Bolzna K.B. Liu (1995) ArticleTitleLate glacial stage and Holocene tropical ice core records from Huascaran, Peru Science 269 46–50

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1948. Woody-Plant Seed Manual. Misc. pub. 654. U.S. GPO, Washington, D.C., 416 pp.

  • F. Vimeux V. Masson J. Jouzel J.R. Petit E.J. Steig M. Stievenard R. Vaikmae J.W.C. White (2001) ArticleTitleHolocene hydrological cycle changes in the Southern Hemisphere documented in East Antarctic deuterium excess records Climate Dynamics 17 503–513

    Google Scholar 

  • U. von Grafenstein H. Erlenkeuser J. Müller J. Jouzel S. Johnsen (1998) ArticleTitleThe cold event 8200 years ago documented in oxygen isotope records of precipitation in Europe and Greenland Climate Dynamics 14 73–81 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s003820050210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R.G. Wetzel (1983) Limnology Saunders College Publishing Philadelphia 767

    Google Scholar 

  • E. c. Wiggin (1922) History of Aroostook, Vol. 1 Star Herald Press Presque IsleME 428

    Google Scholar 

  • H.E. Wright (1967) ArticleTitleA square-rod piston sampler for lake sediments J. Sed. Petrol. 37 975–976

    Google Scholar 

  • H.E. Wright SuffixJr. (1992) ArticleTitlePatterns of Holocene climate change in the midwestern United States Quat. Res. 38 129–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Z. Yu J.H. McAndrews U. Eicher (1997) ArticleTitleMiddle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns: evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes Geology 25 251–54 Occurrence Handle10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0251:MHDCCB>2.3.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Z. Yu H.E. Wright SuffixJr. (2001) ArticleTitleResponse of interior North America to abrupt climate oscillations in the North Atlantic region during the last deglaciation Earth Sci. Rev. 52 333–369 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0012-8252(00)00032-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 5764 Sawyer Research Center, Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, 04469-5764, Orono, ME, USA

    Ann C. Dieffenbacher-Krall & Andrea M. Nurse

Authors
  1. Ann C. Dieffenbacher-Krall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrea M. Nurse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ann C. Dieffenbacher-Krall.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dieffenbacher-Krall, A., Nurse, A. Late-Glacial and Holocene Record of Lake Levels of Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake, Northern Maine, USA. J Paleolimnol 34, 283–309 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-005-4958-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-005-4958-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation