Evidence of Late Pleistocene and Holocene Centennial-Scale Drought from Southeastern Massachusetts By Paige E. Newby B.A., Brown University, 1982 A.M., Brown University, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Geological Sciences at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May 2010 © Copyright 2010 by Paige E. Newby This dissertation by Paige E. Newby is accepted in its present form by the Department of Geological Sciences as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the Doctorate of Philisophy. Date_____________________ ___________________________ Jeffrey Donnelly, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate School Date_____________________ ____________________________ Timothy Herbert, Reader Date_____________________ ____________________________ Jan Tullis, Reader Date_____________________ ____________________________ James Russell, Reader Date_____________________ ____________________________ Douglas Anderson, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date_____________________ _____________________________ Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School iii CURRICULUM VITAE 1. Name: Paige Elizabeth Newby (Henderson) Position: Degree Candidate, PhD. Academic Department: Geological Sciences Date and Place of Birth: April 17, 1951, Washington D.C. Research Expertise: Palynology, Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Marital Status: Married with 6 children, ages 25-36 2. A. Work Address: Department of Geological Sciences Brown University, Providence, RI 02912-1846 Fax: 401-863-2058 e-mail: [email protected] B. Home Address: 16 Montague Street, Providence RI 02906 Telephone: (h) 401-831-0265 (c) 401-575-3039 3. Education: A. B.A. (Honors) Brown University (Anthropology), 1982 M.A., Brown University, (Environmental Studies), 1992 PhD., Brown University, (Geology), 2010 4. Work Experience 2003- Degree Candidate, PhD. Geological Sciences, Brown University iv 1997- Research Associate, Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology 1992- Senior Research Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI. 1988-1991 Center for Environmental Studies M.A. Program, Brown University, Providence, RI. 1988-1984 Research Assistant, Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI. 1984 Consultant, Paleobotanical identification and analysis, Rte 4 Project, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI. 1983 Project Archaeologist, Historical Archeology in a Natural Laboratory, Linking the Present to the Past. Parker Woodland, Rhode Island. Grant Support from RI Committee for the Humanities, Brown University, Providence, RI. 1983 Research Assistant, laboratory for Circumpolar Studies, Haffenreffer Museum Bristol, RI. (Undergraduate thesis). 1983 Field Archaeologist, Grant Support from National Science Foundation, Tukuto Lake Site, National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska. PUBLICATIONS (in review) Repeated Century-Scale Droughts over the past 13,000 years near the Hudson River watershed, U.S.A. Quaternary Research. v 2010 Younger Dryas in the New England-Maritimes. Invited Paper: “Human Respones to the Younger Dryas in the Northern Hemisphere: the New World.” Society for American Archaeology Meetings-April. 2009 Abrupt Climate Change as an Important Agent of Ecological Change in the Northeast U.S. throughout the past 15,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2009 Evidence of centennial-scale drought from southeastern Massachusetts during the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2008 Paleoindians and the Younger Dryas: Changing Landscapes within New England and Maritime Canada. Invited Paper: "Hunter-Gatherer Transitions Through the Younger Dryas: A Global Perspective." Society for American Archaeology Meetings-March. Post-Glacial Landscape Changes and Paleoamericans in the New England Maritimes Region. Current Research in the Pleistocene. 2007 Early Holocene Landscape Variability in southern New England. Geological Society of America Abstract—March. 2006 Vegetation and water level changes for the Northeast during the 8.2 event. American Geophysical Union Abstract. vi 2006 Compound-specific isotopic analyses track changes in seasonal precipitation regimes in the Northeastern United States at ca 8200 cal yr BP Quaternary Science Reviews. 2006 Vegetation and water level changes for the northeast during the 8.2 ka event. Association of American Geographers Abstract. 2005 Paleoindian Response to Younger Dryas Climate Change. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2004 Evidence for the Close Climatic control of New England Vegetation History. Ecology. 2002 Parallel climate and vegetation responses to the Early-Holocene collapse of the Laurentide ice sheet. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2002 La sequence et l’adaptation paleoindiennes en Nouvelle-Angleterre et dans les Maritimes. Recherches Amerindiennes au Quebec. 2002 Late-Quaternary Climate History of Western New York State. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, V.37. vii 2001 700 yr Sedimentary Record of Intense Hurricane Landfalls in Southern New England. GSA Bulletin. 2001 Late-Quaternary Water-Level Variations and Vegetation History at Crooked Pond, Southeastern Massachusetts. Quaternary Research. 2000 Late Quaternary Biomes of Canada and the Eastern US. Journal of Biogeography. 2000 14,000 Years of Sediment, Vegetation and Water Level Changes at the Makepeace Cedar Swamp, Southeastern Massachusetts. Quaternary Research. 1997-1998 Guest Curator, ORIGINS AND ANCESTORS: Investigating New England’s Paleo Indians, Peabody Museum at Andover, MA. 1995 Holocene Water-Level Fluctuations in Southeastern New England. GSA Abstract. 1994 11,500 Years of Sediment, Vegetation and Water Level Changes at Makepeace Cedar Swamp, Southeastern Massachusetts. AMQUA Abstract. 1994 Radiocarbon-Dated Pollen and Sediment Records from near the Boylston Street Fishweir Site in Boston, Massachusetts. Quaternary Research. viii 1994 Pollen and Sediment Records from Walter's Puddle in Central Delaware,in Paleoenvironmental Studies of the Sate Route 1 Corridor: Contexts for Prehistoric Settlement , New Castle and Kent Counties, Delaware. Delaware DOT Archaeology Series No. 114. 1989 Manual for Waste Reduction Planning and Reporting. State of Rhode Island. 1986 Data Recovery, Subsistence, and Contact Period Documentation, Vol. III. Occasional papers in Archaeology, No. 1A. Rhode Island College, Providence, RI. ix Dedicated to those still with me and to those I lost along the way x TABLE OF CONTENTS CURRICULUM VITAE................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................... xv CHAPTER ONE............................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Lake Level Reconstructions and Ground Penetrating Radar..................................... 5 Dissertation Outline.................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................... 14 EVIDENCE OF CENTENNIAL-SCALE DROUGHT FROM SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS DURING THE PLEISTOCENE/HOLOCENE TRANSITION 14 Abstract......................................................................................................................... 15 1. Introduction............................................................................................................... 16 2. The Plymouth Carver Aquifer, Site Description, and Climate................................. 19 3. Methods .................................................................................................................... 22 3.1. Field Methods .................................................................................................... 22 3.2 Laboratory Analyzes ........................................................................................... 23 3.3 Dating ................................................................................................................. 23 3.4 Methods for Reconstructing Changes in Water Level ........................................ 24 4. Results....................................................................................................................... 27 4.1. New Long Pond.................................................................................................. 27 4.2. Rocky Pond ........................................................................................................ 31 5. Discussion................................................................................................................. 34 xi 5.1. Water-level history from 15.0 to 7.0 ka ............................................................. 34 5.2 Instrumental Data and the Sedimentary Record of Drought.............................. 38 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 47 7. Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... 50 8. References................................................................................................................. 51 Table 2-1. Radiocarbon Dates from New Long Pond and Rocky Pond.....................