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Climate and Vegetation Change in Late Pleistocene Central Appalachia: Evidence from Stalagmites and Lake Cores

Baxstrom, Kelli W.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554978401327246

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, Geological Sciences (Arts and Sciences).
This thesis uses a multi-proxy approach involving pollen and speleothem isotopes, to determine how climate events and vegetation changes influenced biomes in the Appalachian Mountains of East Central North America (ECNA) during the Last Glacial Maximum and glacial retreat leading into the Holocene. To do this, a stalagmite from Culverson Creek Cave in West Virginia was collected and analyzed for carbon and oxygen isotopes, and two pollen and macrofossil records were collected and analyzed from Browns Pond and Pancake Field in Virginia. The Browns Pond pollen record was previously published, but the Pancake Field pollen record is novel in partnership with the U. S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA. The records helped reconstruct the history of prairie development and transition into woodland from 27-10 thousand years before present. These two types of records were compared to construct a palaeoecological account of ECNA. Results show that ECNA vegetation closely tracked climate events, including precipitation and temperature changes, that affected North America and the Northern Hemisphere in general, but the Appalachian Mountains provided refugia for some species.
Gregory Springer (Advisor)
Alycia Stigall (Committee Member)
Daniel Hembree (Committee Member)
109 p.
Geology; Geomorphology; Paleoclimate Science
Palaeoclimate; pollen; stalagmite, stable isotopes; refugia; Late Pleistocene; Last Glacial Maximum

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Baxstrom, K. W. (2019). Climate and Vegetation Change in Late Pleistocene Central Appalachia: Evidence from Stalagmites and Lake Cores [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554978401327246

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Baxstrom, Kelli. Climate and Vegetation Change in Late Pleistocene Central Appalachia: Evidence from Stalagmites and Lake Cores. 2019. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554978401327246.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Baxstrom, Kelli. "Climate and Vegetation Change in Late Pleistocene Central Appalachia: Evidence from Stalagmites and Lake Cores." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1554978401327246

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1554978401327246
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.