Late glacial fluctuations of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the White Mountains of Maine and New Hampshire, U.S.A.

2015 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 522-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon R.M. Bromley ◽  
Brenda L. Hall ◽  
Woodrow B. Thompson ◽  
Michael R. Kaplan ◽  
Juan Luis Garcia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Northern New England ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Ice Sheet Dynamics ◽  
Complex Relationships

Prominent moraines deposited by the Laurentide Ice Sheet in northern New England document readvances, or stillstands, of the ice margin during overall deglaciation. However, until now, the paucity of direct chronologies over much of the region has precluded meaningful assessment of the mechanisms that drove these events, or of the complex relationships between ice-sheet dynamics and climate. As a step towards addressing this problem, we present a cosmogenic 10Be surface-exposure chronology from the Androscoggin moraine complex, located in the White Mountains of western Maine and northern New Hampshire, as well as four recalculated ages from the nearby Littleton–Bethlehem moraine. Seven internally consistent 10Be ages from the Androscoggin terminal moraines indicate that advance culminated ~ 13.2 ± 0.8 ka, in close agreement with the mean age of the neighboring Littleton–Bethlehem complex. Together, these two datasets indicate stabilization or advance of the ice-sheet margin in northern New England, at ~ 14–13 ka, during the Allerød/Greenland Interstadial I.

Age of the Berlin moraine complex, New Hampshire, USA, and implications for ice sheet dynamics and climate during Termination 1

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 80-93
Author(s):  
Gordon R.M. Bromley ◽  
Brenda L. Hall ◽  
Woodrow B. Thompson ◽  
Thomas V. Lowell
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Ice Sheet Dynamics ◽  
St Lawrence River

AbstractAt its late Pleistocene maximum, the Laurentide Ice Sheet was the largest ice mass on Earth and a key player in the modulation of global climate and sea level. At the same time, this temperate ice sheet was itself sensitive to climate, and high-magnitude fluctuations in ice extent, reconstructed from relict glacial deposits, reflect past changes in atmospheric temperature. Here, we present a cosmogenic 10Be surface-exposure chronology for the Berlin moraines in the White Mountains of northern New Hampshire, USA, which supports the model that deglaciation of New England was interrupted by a pronounced advance of ice during the Bølling-Allerød. Together with recalculated 10Be ages from the southern New England coast, the expanded White Mountains moraine chronology also brackets the timing of ice sheet retreat in this sector of the Laurentide. In conjunction with existing chronological data, the moraine ages presented here suggest that deglaciation was widespread during Heinrich Stadial 1 event (~18–14.7 ka) despite apparently cold marine conditions in the adjacent North Atlantic. As part of the White Mountains moraine system, the Berlin chronology also places a new terrestrial constraint on the former glacial configuration during the marine incursion of the St. Lawrence River valley north of the White Mountains.

scholarly journals Late-Quaternary history of the alpine flora of the New Hampshire White Mountains

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norton G. Miller ◽  
Ray W. Spear
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Plant Macrofossils ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Alpine Tundra ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Alpine Zone

Abstract A distinctive flora of 73 species of vascular plants and numerous bryophytes occurs in the ca. 20 km 2 of alpine tundra in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. The late- Quaternary distribution of these plants, many of which are disjuncts, was investigated by studies of pollen and plant macrofossils from lower Lakes of the Clouds (1 542 m) in the alpine zone of Mount Washington. Results were compared with pollen and macrofossils from lowland late-glacial deposits in western New England. Lowland paleofloras contained fossils of 43 species of vascular plants, 13 of which occur in the contemporary alpine flora of the White Mountains. A majority of species in the paleoflora has geographic affinities to Labrador, northern Québec, and Greenland, a pattern also apparent for mosses in the lowland deposits. The first macrofossils in lower Lakes of the Clouds were arctic-alpine mosses of acid soils. Although open-ground mosses and vascular plants continued to occur throughout the Holocene, indicating that alpine tundra persisted, fossils of a low-elevation moss Hylocomiastrum umbratum are evidence that forest (perhaps as krummholz) covered a greater area near the basin from 7 500 to 3 500 yBP. No calcicolous plants were recovered from sediments at lower Lakes of the Clouds. Climatic constraints on the alpine flora during the Younger Dryas oscillation and perhaps during other cold-climate events and intervening periods of higher temperature may have led to the loss of plant species in the White Mountain alpine zone. Late-glacial floras of lowland western New England were much richer than floras of areas above treeline during late-glacial time and at the present.

scholarly journals Till Stratigraphy and Late Wisconsinan Deglaciation of Southern Maine: A Review

2007 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woodrow B. Thompson ◽  
Harold W. Borns Jr.
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Ocean Floor ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Marine Transgression ◽  
Coastal Lowland ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Clay Deposits ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

ABSTRACT At least two glaciations are recorded by the till stratigraphy of southern Maine. A more deeply weathered lower till is tentatively correlated with the early Wisconsinan (or older) Nash Stream Till in New Hampshire and its inferred equivalents in southern New England and Québec. The Laurentide Ice Sheet flowed south-southeastward across southern Maine in late Wisconsinan time and deposited the upper till. By about 14,000 years ago the ice sheet started to recede from the Maine coast, and the high peaks of the Mahoosuc Range emerged as nunataks in western Maine. Marine transgression accompanied déglaciation of lowland areas of southern Maine, with deposition of end moraines, deltas, and subaqueous outwash along the active ice margin, while thick clay deposits of the Presumpscot Formation accumulated on the ocean floor. The ice margin retreated quickly, reaching the marine limit in central Maine by 13,000 yr BP. The Pineo Ridge moraine system in eastern Maine, formerly thought to represent a major readvance, is reinterpreted as a glacial stillstand near the marine limit. Deglaciation inland from the marine limit in eastern and southwestern Maine occurred by recession of an active ice margin in some areas, and elsewhere by stagnation and downwasting of ice that was separated from the active ice sheet. Southern Maine was ice-free by 12,000 yr BP. but marine submergence persisted until about 11,000 years ago in the southwestern coastal lowland.

scholarly journals Pre-Late Wisconsinan age for part of the glaciolacustrine stratigraphy, lower Peabody valley, northern White Mountains, Gorham, New Hampshire

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
River Valley ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Southern New England ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

Abstract Interbedded till and glaciolacustrine deposits in the lower Peabody River Valley near Gorham, New Hampshire suggest multiple glacial advances occurred in the northern White Mountains. Previous workers disagreed on whether these advances were local or regional in nature, but thought they all occurred during the recessional phase of the Late Wisconsinan ice sheet. New stratigraphic and geomorphic reconnaissance, however, shows that a thick and regionally extensive till overlies this stratigraphy and that this till was emplaced by the last full-glacial episode to affect the region, the Late Wisconsinan glaciation. The stratigraphic position of this till makes the age of the underlying till and glaciolacustrine deposits pre-Late Wisconsinan and much older than previously assumed. This change in age assignment for part of the Peabody Valley stratigraphy supports the extension of the Illinoian-Late Wisconsinan "two-till" stratigraphy of central and southern New England into the region north of the White Mountain Highlands.

Deglaciation and late-glacial climate change in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA

2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woodrow B. Thompson ◽  
Christopher C. Dorion ◽  
John C. Ridge ◽  
Greg Balco ◽  
Brian K. Fowler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Exposure Dating ◽  
The North ◽  
Maritime Canada

AbstractRecession of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from northern New Hampshire was interrupted by the Littleton-Bethlehem (L-B) readvance and deposition of the extensive White Mountain Moraine System (WMMS). Our mapping of this moraine belt and related glacial lake sequence has refined the deglaciation history of the region. The age of the western part of the WMMS is constrained to ~14.0–13.8 cal ka BP by glacial Lake Hitchcock varves that occur beneath and above L-B readvance till and were matched to a revised calibration of the North American Varve Chronology presented here. Using this age for when boulders were deposited on the moraines has enabled calibration of regional cosmogenic-nuclide production rates to improve the precision of exposure dating in New England. The L-B readvance coincided with the Older Dryas (OD) cooling documented by workers in Europe and the equivalent GI-1d cooling event in the Greenland Ice Core Chronology 2005 (GICC05) time scale. The readvance and associated moraines provide the first well-documented and dated evidence of the OD event in the northeastern United States. Our lake sediment cores show that the Younger Dryas cooling was likewise prominent in the White Mountains, thus extending the record of this event westward from Maine and Maritime Canada.

scholarly journals Deglaciation of the northwestern White Mountains, New Hampshire

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woodrow B. Thompson ◽  
Brian K. Fowler ◽  
Christopher C. Dorion
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Drainage Channels ◽  
Connecticut Valley ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Climatic Cooling ◽  
Original Interpretation

Abstract The mode of deglaciation in the northwestern White Mountains of New Hampshire has been controversial since the mid 1800's. Early workers believed that active ice deposited the Bethlehem Moraine complex in the Ammonoosuc River basin during recession of the last ice sheet. In the 1930's this deglaciation model was replaced by the concept of widespread simultaneous stagnation and downwastage of Late Wisconsinan ice. The present authors reexamined the Bethlehem Moraine complex and support the original interpretation of a series of moraines deposited by active ice. We found other moraine clusters of similar age to the northeast in the Johns River and Israel River basins. Ice-marginal deposits that probably correlate with the Bethlehem Moraine also occur west of Littleton. The Bethlehem Moraine complex and equivalent deposits in adjacent areas were formed by readvance and oscillatory retreat of the Connecticut Valley lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. This event is called the Littleton-Bethlehem Readvance. Throughout the study area, sequences of glaciolacustrine deposits and meltwater drainage channels indicate progressive northward recession of the glacier margin. Radiocarbon dates from nearby New England and Québec suggest that the ice sheet withdrew from this part of the White Mountains between about 12 500 and 12 000 14 C yr BP. We attribute the Littleton- Bethlehem Readvance to a brief climatic cooling during Older Dyas time, close to 12,000 BP.

Interstadial Conifer Wood from Northern Maine

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
R. Scott Anderson ◽  
Ronald B. Davis ◽  
Robert Stuckenrath ◽  
Harold W. Borns
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
New England ◽  
Lake Sediments ◽  
Lake Sediment ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Northern New England ◽  
Upper South ◽  
Conifer Wood

Conifer wood, probably spruce (Picea sp.), of middle Wisconsinan age (29,200 ± 500 yr B.P.) was recovered from late-glacial lake sediments from Upper South Branch Pond, Maine. If the wood was derived from a local source, deglaciation of part of northern New England is suggested for this time. The occurrence also has implications for understanding the problem associated with radiocarbon dating of bulk lake sediment containing small amounts of organic matter.

scholarly journals Impact of Farmers Home Administration's Future Policies on Northern New England Dairymen

1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 139-147
Author(s):  
Sherrill B. Nott ◽  
Laura Calub
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Business Sector ◽  
Policy Alternatives ◽  
Northern New England ◽  
Farmers Home Administration ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Home Administration

Individuals working with farmers in the Northern New England States of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont have claimed that the Farmers Home Administration has increased non-farm loans, while deliberately curtailing new farm loan activities and reducing the service on existing farm loans. If these allegations are true, it is important for the Northern New England agri-business sector to consider the future implications. The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of future policy alternatives available to the Farmers Home Administration on the region's dairy farms.

The Village District in New Hampshire

1946 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 962-965
Author(s):  
Lashley G. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
The State ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Outward Appearance ◽  
White Mountains ◽  
State Tax ◽  
The Village ◽  
The Town ◽  
Railroad Station

Although legally buried since 1891, the “precinct” in New Hampshire, like Banquo's ghost, continually arises to baffle students of New England local government. To the lawmakers, it is known as the village district; while in its annual report the state tax commission lists village districts as precincts, only adding to the confusion.In making a count of governmental areas in New Hampshire, one finds the state divided into ten counties. Within these, there are eleven municipalities classed as cities and 224 towns. The cities were once towns, but have been incorporated as cities by the legislature, not in accordance with a population prerequisite, but upon application. The first city to be incorporated was Manchester in 1846.All New Hampshire cities and towns include within their limits a great deal of rural land. Clusters of houses or settlements are sprinkled over these areas. Frequently, a settlement has several stores, a post office, and a railroad station and has the outward appearance of a village. Legally, however, such a settlement is not a village. It is administered entirely as a part of the town or city in which it is located, although it may be several miles from the principal urban center. New Hampshire has 639 such settlements, none of which is incorporated. Villages are not incorporated in New Hampshire as they are in Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine. Frequently they are referred to as places, but they should not be confused with the 23 so-called “unincorporated places” (found principally in the White Mountains), which are administered by the county and state governments almost completely. However, there are a few of the “villagelike” settlements within unincorporated places.

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