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Title: 12,000-year record of forest history from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama

Abstract

A 650-cm sediment sequence from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama, spans the past 12,000 y and has yielded a pollen and plant-macrofossil record indicating major changes in forest composition during the Holocene interglacial. Both pollen and plant macrofossils from sediments of this 0.2-ha pond primarily reflect changes in local and extralocal forests within the surrounding watershed. Four distinct pollen assemblage zones were recognized: a Fagus-Ostrya zone from 12,000 to 10,200 BP, a Pinus-Magnolia zone from 10,200 to 10,000 BP, a Quercus-Carya zone from 10,000 to 8400 BP, and a Nyssa-Pinus zone from 8400 BP to the present. Forests of the early Holocene (12,000 to 10,000 BP) were mesic and predominantly composed of broadleaved deciduous trees, dominated by beech (Fagus grandifolia). Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), today a coastal species, extended inland to St. Clair County during the early Holocene, Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), hemlock (Tsuga), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), and mountain maple (Acer spicatum), today rare or absent in Alabama, extended southward of their present ranges into central Alabama 10,000 y ago. After 10,000 BP, forests became more xeric, with oaks and hickories predominant. After 8400 BP, black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), southern pines (Diploxylon Pinus), red maple (Acermore » rubrum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), and other elements of the modern flora became established locally. Water levels in the pond became higher, and sedimentation rate diminished. An increase in effective precipitation in the late Holocene reflects in the establishment of the modern atmospheric circulation patterns.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ;
  1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
5777243
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-ENG-26
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Ecology; (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 64:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 58 GEOSCIENCES; ALABAMA; PONDS; BEECH TREES; FOSSILS; ISOTOPE DATING; FORESTS; MAPLES; OAKS; PINES; STRATIGRAPHY; CARBON 14; POLLEN; QUATERNARY PERIOD; SEDIMENTS; AGE ESTIMATION; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; CARBON ISOTOPES; CENOZOIC ERA; CONIFERS; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; FEDERAL REGION IV; GAMETES; GEOLOGIC AGES; GEOLOGY; GERM CELLS; ISOTOPES; LIGHT NUCLEI; NORTH AMERICA; NUCLEI; PLANTS; RADIOISOTOPES; SURFACE WATERS; TREES; USA; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; 510100* - Environment, Terrestrial- Basic Studies- (-1989); 580100 - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)

Citation Formats

Delcourt, H R, Delcourt, P A, and Spiker, E C. 12,000-year record of forest history from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama. United States: N. p., 1983. Web.
Delcourt, H R, Delcourt, P A, & Spiker, E C. 12,000-year record of forest history from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama. United States.
Delcourt, H R, Delcourt, P A, and Spiker, E C. 1983. "12,000-year record of forest history from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama". United States.
@article{osti_5777243,
title = {12,000-year record of forest history from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama},
author = {Delcourt, H R and Delcourt, P A and Spiker, E C},
abstractNote = {A 650-cm sediment sequence from Cahaba Pond, St. Clair County, Alabama, spans the past 12,000 y and has yielded a pollen and plant-macrofossil record indicating major changes in forest composition during the Holocene interglacial. Both pollen and plant macrofossils from sediments of this 0.2-ha pond primarily reflect changes in local and extralocal forests within the surrounding watershed. Four distinct pollen assemblage zones were recognized: a Fagus-Ostrya zone from 12,000 to 10,200 BP, a Pinus-Magnolia zone from 10,200 to 10,000 BP, a Quercus-Carya zone from 10,000 to 8400 BP, and a Nyssa-Pinus zone from 8400 BP to the present. Forests of the early Holocene (12,000 to 10,000 BP) were mesic and predominantly composed of broadleaved deciduous trees, dominated by beech (Fagus grandifolia). Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), today a coastal species, extended inland to St. Clair County during the early Holocene, Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), hemlock (Tsuga), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), and mountain maple (Acer spicatum), today rare or absent in Alabama, extended southward of their present ranges into central Alabama 10,000 y ago. After 10,000 BP, forests became more xeric, with oaks and hickories predominant. After 8400 BP, black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), southern pines (Diploxylon Pinus), red maple (Acer rubrum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), and other elements of the modern flora became established locally. Water levels in the pond became higher, and sedimentation rate diminished. An increase in effective precipitation in the late Holocene reflects in the establishment of the modern atmospheric circulation patterns.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5777243}, journal = {Ecology; (United States)},
number = ,
volume = 64:4,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983},
month = {Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983}
}