New England Lakes Modern Plant Macrofossil Data Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C. Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C. earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology earth science/paleoclimate/paleolimnology (Alder Lake>LATITUDE 46.61389>LONGITUDE -68.16944) (Third Otter Pond>LATITUDE 43.76111>LONGITUDE -70.51111) (Mohawk Lake>LATITUDE 42.29583>LONGITUDE -73.35556) (Lake Wood>LATITUDE 44.40694>LONGITUDE -68.26861) (Card Pond>LATITUDE 42.36806>LONGITUDE -73.35) (Bennett Lake>LATITUDE 46.61806>LONGITUDE -67.87861) (Millers Lake>LATITUDE 42.38056>LONGITUDE -73.37917) (Lower Hadlock Pond>LATITUDE 44.31111>LONGITUDE -68.29028) (Unnamed Lake D>LATITUDE 42.38833>LONGITUDE -73.33194) (First Otter Pond>LATITUDE 43.76111>LONGITUDE -70.51389) (Unnamed Lake B>LATITUDE 42.4>LONGITUDE -73.33667) (Lindsay Lake>LATITUDE 46.675>LONGITUDE -67.79861) (Crane Lake MA>LATITUDE 42.33944>LONGITUDE -73.37778) (Gentle Lake>LATITUDE 46.28194>LONGITUDE -67.83139) (Hodgden Pond>LATITUDE 44.32222>LONGITUDE -68.39861) (Whitehead Lake>LATITUDE 46.45556>LONGITUDE -67.86389) (Youngs Lake>LATITUDE 46.52222>LONGITUDE -67.94861) Paleohydrologists sometimes use macrofossils of aquatic vascular plants as one of several independent lines of evidence to infer changes in past lake-levels. Typically, this usage relies on an assumption that the seeds of aquatic species are not dispersed far from the source plants. The water depth over the coring site at the time the seeds were deposited is inferred from the water depth at which the species generally grows today. We determined the water depths at which particular plant-remain types are deposited, and tested whether they can be used successfully as proxy evidence for lake level. The results should aid the interpretation of fossil seeds in paleohydrological studies. A total of 189 surface sediment samples from 13 lakes in Maine and Massachusetts were examined for plant remains, and vegetation was surveyed in the immediate vicinity of each sediment sampling-site. The seeds of some taxa were found in sediment from water-depth ranges much broader than those in which living plants occur. However, in combination, even plant-remain types with broad depth ranges can be used effectively to reconstruct water depth. Presence of plant-remain types can be used to infer water depth regardless of abundance. Test samples indicate that inferring water depth from plant remains works well for shallow, alkaline lakes in New England. STUDY NOTES: New England Lakes Modern Plant Macrofossil Data - surface sample study of 18 lakes in New England, NE USA. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C. 2000-04-01 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5479 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/readme_dieff-krall2000.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/readme_dieff-krall2000.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/5479 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/readme_dieff-krall2000.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.xls https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/paleolimnology/newengland/macrofossils/seedcounts.txt Dieffenbacher-Krall, A.C.. 2000. The relationship of modern plant remains to water depth in alkaline lakes in New England.. Journal of Paleolimnology Vol.24, No. 2, pp. 213-229, August 2000 START YEAR: cal yr BP * END YEAR: cal yr BP -73.37917 42.29583 -67.79861 46.675