Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T15:08:04.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Lake-Effect Precipitation in Northern Michigan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Paul A. Delcourt ,
Peter L. Nester ,
Hazel R. Delcourt ,
Claudia I. Mora  and
Kenneth H. Orvis
Paul A. Delcourt
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996
Peter L. Nester
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996
Hazel R. Delcourt
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996
Claudia I. Mora
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996
Kenneth H. Orvis
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37996
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Holocene sediments from Nelson Lake, on Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula, provide isotopic, pollen, and charcoal evidence for a two-step sequence of changes in moisture source and increased lake-effect precipitation during the late Holocene. Between 8000 and 5300 cal yr B.P., a warm, dry climate and zonal atmospheric circulation produced enriched stable oxygen and carbon isotopic values in combination with high percentages of pine pollen and sustained influx of charcoal particles. After 5300 cal yr B.P., decreasing isotopic values in marl and increasing pollen percentages of mesic hardwoods and northern white cedar indicate increased meridional air flow and precipitation from cold winter storms generated in Alberta, Canada. After 3000 cal yr B.P., abrupt declines in values of δ13C and δ18O and increased pollen representation of hemlock, American beech, spruce, and aquatic plants indicate paludification from increased lake-effect snowfall. The moisture was derived from the Great Lakes and transported by Alberta cyclonic storms that were steered across Lakes Superior and Michigan by a southward shift in the modal winter position of the polar jet stream.

Keywords

climate changepaleoecologystable isotope
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , March 2002 , pp. 225 - 233
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bartlein, P.J, Webb, T III, and Fleri, E Holocene climate change in the northern Midwest: Pollen derived estimates. Quaternary Research 22, (1984). 361–374.Google Scholar
Bernabo, J.C Quantitative estimates of temperature changes over the last 2700 years in Michigan based on pollen data. Quaternary Research 15, (1981). 143–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brugam, R.B, and Johnson, S.M Holocene lake-level rise in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, as indicated by peatland growth. The Holocene 7, (1997). 355–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brugam, R.B, and Swain, P Diatom indicators of peatland development at Pogonia Bog Pond, Minnesota, USA. The Holocene 10, (2000). 453–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.S, and Hussey, T.C Estimating the mass flux of charcoal from sedimentary records: Effects of particle size, morphology, and orientation. The Holocene 6, (1996). 129–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, M.B, Calcote, R.R, Sugita, S, and Takahara, H Patchy invasion and the origin of a hemlock-hardwoods forest mosaic. Ecology 79, (1998). 2641–2659.Google Scholar
Dean, W. E., and Stuiver, M. (1993). Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Studies of the Sediments of Elk Lake, Minnesota. Geological Society of America Special Paper 276, pp. 163–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, W.E, Ahlbrandt, T.S, Anderson, R.Y, and Bradbury, J.P Regional aridity in North America during the middle Holocene. The Holocene 6, (1996). 145–155.Google Scholar
Delcourt, H.R, and Delcourt, P.A Presettlement landscape heterogeneity: Evaluating grain of resolution using General Land Office Survey data. Landscape Ecology 11, (1996). 363–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P.A, Petty, W.H, and Delcourt, H.R Late-Holocene formation of Lake Michigan beach ridges correlated with a 70-yr oscillation in global climate. Quaternary Research 45, (1996). 321–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delcourt, P.A, Delcourt, H.R, Ison, C.R, Sharp, W.E, and Gremillion, K.J Prehistoric human use of fire, the Eastern Agricultural Complex, and Appalachian oak-chestnut forests: Paleoecology of Cliff Palace Pond, Kentucky. American Antiquity 63, (1998). 263–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drummond, C.N, Patterson, W.P, and Walker, J.C.G Climatic forcing of carbon-oxygen isotopic covariance in temperate-region marl lakes. Geology 23, (1995). 1031–1034.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, T.W.D, and Fritz, P Stable-isotope records for southern Ontario, Canada: Comparison of results from marl and wood. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 25, (1988). 1397–1406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, T.W.D, Wolfe, B.B, and MacDonald, G.M Influence of changing atmospheric circulation on precipitation δ18O-temperature relations in Canada during the Holocene. Quaternary Research 46, (1996). 211–218.Google Scholar
Eichenlaub, V, Harman, J.R, Nurnberger, F.V, and Stolle, H.J The Climatic Atlas of Michigan. (1990). The University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame.Google Scholar
Fraser, G. S., Larsen, C. E., and Hester, N. C. (1990). Climatic Control of Lake Levels in the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron basins. Geological Society of America Special Paper 251, pp. 75–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Futyma, R.P The northern limits of glacial Lake Algonquin in upper Michigan. Quaternary Research 15, (1981). 291–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Futyma, R.P Post-Glacial Vegetation of Eastern Upper Michigan. (1982). University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Futyma, R.P, and Miller, N.G Stratigraphy and genesis of the Lake Sixteen peatland, northern Michigan. Canadian Journal of Botany 64, (1986). 3008–3019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, F.S, Wright, H.E Jr., Ito, E, and Lease, K Climatic effects of glacial Lake Agassiz in the midwestern United States during the last deglaciation. Geology 25, (1997). 207–210.Google Scholar
Kutzbach, J.E, Guetter, P.J, Behling, P.J, and Selin, R Simulated climatic changes: Results of the COHMAP climate-model experiments. Wright, H.E Jr., Kutzbach, J.E, Webb, T III, Ruddiman, W.F, Street-Perrott, F.A, and Bartlein, P.J Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Macimum. (1993). University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. 24–93.Google Scholar
Lavoie, M, and Richard, P.J.H Postglacial water-level changes of a small lake in southern Québec, Canada. The Holocene 10, (2000). 621–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machavaram, M.V, and Krishnamurthy, R.V Survey of factors controlling the stable isotope ratios in precipitation in the Great Lakes region, USA. Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 43, (1992). 195–202.Google Scholar
Miller, N.G, and Futyma, R.P Paleohydrological implications of Holocene peatland development in northern Michigan. Quaternary Research 27, (1987). 297–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nester, P.L Holocene Climate of Eastern Upper Michigan: Stratigraphic, Stable Isotope and Charcoal Analyses from Sediments of Nelson Lake, Mackinac County, Michigan. (1999). University of Tennessee, Knoxville.Google Scholar
Norton, D.C, and Bolsenga, S.J Spatiotemporal trends in lake effect and continental snowfall in the Laurentian Great Lakes, 1951–1980. Journal of Climate 6, (1993). 1943–1956.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petty, W.H Holocene uplift and vegetation history along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. (1994). University of Tennessee, Knoxville.Google Scholar
Petty, W.H, Delcourt, P.A, and Delcourt, H.R Holocene lake-level fluctuations and beach-ridge development along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, USA. Journal of Palaeolimnology 15, (1996). 147–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, D.W, and McCulloch, J.A.W The climate of the Great Lakes Basin. Canadian Environment Atmospheric Service, Climatological Study 20, (1972). 1–40.Google Scholar
Rodionov, S.N Association between winter precipitation and water level fluctuations in the Great Lakes and atmospheric circulation patterns. Journal of Climate 7, (1994). 1693–1706.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M.A, and Hollander, D.J Historical linkage between atmospheric circulation patterns and the oxygen isotopic record of sedimentary carbonates from Lake Mendota, Wisconsin, USA. Geology 27, (1999). 589–592.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, P.J, Bard, E, Beck, J.W, Burr, G.S, Hughen, K.A, Kromer, B, McCormac, F.G, van der Plicht, J, and Spurk, M INTCAL98 Radiocarbon age calibration 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, (1998). 1041–1083.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanlier, K. E., and Deutsch, M. (1958). Reconnaissance of the Ground water Resources of Mackinac County, Michigan. Progress Report Number 19. United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey, pp. 1–81.Google Scholar
Webb, T. III, Bartlein, P. J., Harrison, S. P., and Anderson, K. H. (1993). Vegetation, lake levels, and climate in eastern North America for the past 18,000 years.. In Global Climates Since the Last Glacial Maximum Wright, H. E. Jr., Kutzbach, J. E., Webb, T. III, Ruddiman, W. F., Street-Perrott, F. A., and Bartlein, P. J., Eds., pp. 415–467. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Winkler, M. G. (1997). Late Quaternary climate, fire, and vegetation dynamics.. In Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change Clark, J. S., Cachier, H., Goldammer, J. G., and Stocks, B., Eds., pp. 329–346. Springer-Verlag, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winkler, M.G, Swain, A.M, and Kutzbach, J.E Middle Holocene dry period in the northern midwestern United States: Lake levels and pollen stratigraphy. Quaternary Research 25, (1986). 235–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, H.E Jr. Patterns of Holocene climatic change in the midwestern United States. Quaternary Research 38, (1992). 129–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, Z, McAndrews, J.H, and Eicher, U Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns: Evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes. Geology 25, (1997). 251–254.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar