SEDIMENT CORES FROM A RARE LAKE IN WESTERN NEW YORK: A FIRST LOOK

Paleoclimate records allow us to investigate past changes in climate that help gain perspective on future climate change and allow for the spatial and temporal analysis of global climate changes. Records spanning the Late Glacial and Holocene are of particular interest, as these periods were characterized by rapid warming and extended warmth, respectively. In western New York, however, the dearth of natural lakes spanning the Late Glacial period limits the generation of such records. Fortunately, Red Pond (42.133, -78.913), a kettle lake situated on the Last Glacial Maximum terminal moraine of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, may help shed light on the region’s climate history. The 18-meter water depth hinders complete mixing of the lake water, creating anoxic conditions at the bottom, which preserve fine laminations in the absence of bioturbation. We collected sediment cores using a Nesje-style percussion-piston coring system for the soft upper sediments and a manual GeoProbe percussion coring system for the stiff lower sediments. The cores are finely laminated (sub-millimeter) dark brown organic-rich silt, containing precipitated vivianite and pyrite with a transition to tan silt at the base. At present, 4 radiocarbon ages from macrofossils show that the basin formed before 14.0±0.2 cal ka BP (thousand calendar years before present, 1950) and that the tan silt was deposited between 11-12 ka. We will present a new age-depth model and loss-on-ignition values to describe climate trends during the Holocene and characterize the conditions in western New York as this region transitioned out of the Younger Dryas.