PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECORD AT PANTHERTOWN BOG (NC), AN EARLY HOLOCENE PEAT-ACCUMULATING WETLAND IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Panthertown Bog is a peat-accumulating wetland in the Southern Appalachian region of North Carolina that is located at an elevation of greater than 1100m. A series of 3 organic-rich cores have now been recovered from the site using a Dutch auger and these cores have been radiocarbon dated. Organic deposition began in the early to mid Holocene at each of the core sites (</= 7150 +/- 50 radiocarbon years before present). An additional vibracore sample from the site shows alluvium below the organic material and the age of this unit remains unknown. Organic carbon percentages and C/N ratios are similar down-core at the 3 different core sites suggesting a similar site history at each location. Sediment grain size data and organic biomarker data (using n-alkanes) have been collected as well and we interpret these records in the context of environmental change. This research will ultimately help to fill a long-standing gap in the paleoenvironmental record of North America since peat accumulating wetlands are rare in the Southern Appalachians.