A MIDDLE AND LATE HOLOCENE CLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION FROM SMITH POND, NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Holocene is often considered a time of relatively stable interglacial climate when compared to longer glacial timescales. Yet, Holocene climate and environmental changes are hypothesized to have affected human cultures around the world, and even the overall direction of orbital-scale, multi-millennial, temperature change through the Holocene remains debated for some regions. Millennial scale Holocene climate patterns were punctuated by century-scale events like the 8.2 ka event, Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), and the Little Ice Age (LIA). On millennial and centennial time scales, Holocene climate conditions influenced landscape and vegetation patterns. These changes can be tracked using a regional network of lake-sediment records. We are developing a Holocene-long sediment core record from Smith Pond, in New Hampshire to assess changes in past climate and vegetation. In the summer of 2023, we collected a ~6 m-long sediment core from the center of Smith Pond extending back through the deglaciation of the site. We are taking a multi-proxy approach using visual stratigraphy, loss on ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility (MS), and pollen content to reconstruct changes in climate and ecosystems. Radiocarbon dating will provide chronological constraints. We plan to use this record to understand the local impact of known climatic events such as the Holocene Thermal Maximum, 8.2 ka event, MCA, and the LIA. To provide context for our work at Smith Pond, we are exploring spatial and temporal climate and vegetation changes across New England using previously published lake sediment records contained in the Neotoma database. This comparative approach will help us understand variations in Holocene climate and its broader environmental implications through time and across space. Our work will contribute to a larger study aimed at understanding climatic conditions in New England during Termination 1 and their impacts on human occupation.