A 14,400-Year Sediment and Pollen Record of Lake Erie Limnological Response to Lake Level, Lake Connectivity, and Climate
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Lake Erie, the southernmost of the Laurentian Great Lakes, experienced major changes in climate, hydrology, and basin configuration from Late Glacial through Holocene time. We present a new ~ 14.4-thousand-year (~ 14.4 ka) sediment record for a central basin core constrained by radiocarbon and paleomagnetic secular variation ages, with pollen stratigraphy independently verifying the age model where radiocarbon ages are reversed. Five phases characterize the record: 1) low inorganic carbon (IC) from ~ 14.4–11.5 cal ka BP; 2) increasing IC after 11.5 cal ka BP, followed by pollen changes across an unconformity spanning 10.0–8.1 cal ka BP; 3) relatively high IC from 8.1 cal ka BP until 4) three stepwise decreases in IC and an increase in organic carbon (OC) between 5.3–3.5 cal ka BP; and 5) near zero IC from 3.5 cal ka BP to Present, with OC and pollen changes after ~ 2.3 cal ka BP. Comparison with a second central-basin core and lake level reconstructions indicates that climate, hydrologic connectivity, and lake level influenced sedimentary carbonate accumulation and contributed to the formation of an unconformity, a shift in the depocenter, and a mass slide.
Source: Research Square
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225633255