Final Pleistocene and Holocene pollen stratigraphic sequence from the Cloquet River area, St. Louis Co. , NE Minnesota

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6321242

Hill, C L; Rapp, Jr, G R; Huber, J K

A five-meter pollen sequence from a bog has been studied as part of a project concerned with the late-Quaternary paleoenvironmental setting and prehistory of northeastern Minnesota. The stratigraphic sequence is situated on an outwash plain derived from the Automba phase of glaciation (ca. 15,000 B.P.) and is located near a series of surface archaeological localities containing possible late Paleoindian lithic assemblages. Loss-on-ignition and particle size analyses reveal that the top section of the core, to a depth of about 350 cm, is composed predominantly of organics, the remaining 150 cm is dominated by mud. Radicarbon ages of 9270 +/- 190 B.P. (UCR-1825) for the 350-355 cm interval, and 9420 +/- 180 (UCR-1826) for the 350-364 cm interval, were obtained. Data derived from pollen counts made at 20 cm intervals throughout the sequence indicate the core can be divided into several pollen-stratigraphic zones. The lowest zone, from the base of the core to about 440 cm, contains Cyperaceae (initially at about 60% total pollen) and is also characterized by Picea and Salix. (ca5%). Above this, there is a zone which ends at about 360 cm and contains a Betula peak (>65%). These two zones are considered to reflect the presence of tundra-like and dwarf-birch tundra vegetational regimes in the area during the late Pleistocene. Several pollen stratigraphic zones above 360 cm provide an indication of the Holocene vegetational setting, and show the increasing dominance of Pinus. The paleoenvironmental record obtained from this core, along with studies of the geologic setting, late Quaternary glacial sequence, and physiographic situation of archaeological localities, may help to elucidate the conditions prevalent during this time and provide a basis for a clearer understanding of the prehistoric ecology of northeastern Minnesota.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6321242
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Journal Information: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
MINNESOTA
SWAMPS
ORGANIC MATTER
ISOTOPE DATING
PALYNOLOGY
STRATIGRAPHY
SEDIMENTS
DRILL CORES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GLACIERS
POLLEN
QUATERNARY PERIOD
AGE ESTIMATION
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
CENOZOIC ERA
ECOSYSTEMS
FEDERAL REGION V
GAMETES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
GERM CELLS
NORTH AMERICA
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
USA
WETLANDS
580100* - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)