PALEOENVIRONMENT AND ANTHROPOGENIC RECONSTRUCTION OF NORTH Storr'S LAKE, SAN SALVADOR, THE BAHAMAS

The island of San Salvador, The Bahamas, contains numerous inland lakes. These lakes are extremely diverse in water chemistry, lake biota, and depositional history. Storr’s Lake is a shallow (<2 meters), hypersaline, former tidal creek that separated from the ocean during the Holocene by a southern prograding N-S trending dune ridge (Zabielski, 1991). Located on the northeastern edge of the island, Storr’s Lake is the drainage basin for the archaeological site North Storr’s Lake (SS-4) and the Loyalist Plantation, Polly Hill. Evidence of the native Lucayan (8^th-15^th Century) and the Loyalist periods (18^th Century) are preserved in cores taken from a small subaerial to submarine inlet of the North Storr’s Lake. Core description, loss-on-ignition (LOI) determination of organic and carbonate content, x-ray diffraction analyses of mineral compostions, and ICPMS elemental analyses allow for the examination of anthropogenic and consequential environmental changes surrounding Storr’s Lake. Lake sediment analysis aids in interpreting the depositional history and paleoenvironment of Storr’s Lake. LOI analysis quantifies alternating mud and sand layers visible in the cores. Large spikes of carbonate sand are interpreted as hurricane deposits. Cores taken from inside and outside an existing Loyalist stone wall include two facies; a lower grayer section and an upper brownish section. These layers likely correspond to the earlier Lucayan period and the later Loyalist period, respectively. The trace elements Al and Fe found through ICPMS analysis in core BA09SLN14 are indicative of human activity. Trace elements are attributed to deforestation and consequential soil erosion associated with such activities. During storm events and water run off, these elements attach to clays and are collected in lake basins (i.e. North Storr’s Lake). Lake sediment analysis is a useful tool for understanding paleoclimate, global sea level changes, and potential human impact on the local environment.