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Centennial‐to‐millennial hydrologic trends and variability along the North Atlantic Coast, USA, during the Holocene
Author(s) -
Newby Paige E.,
Shuman Bryan N.,
Donnelly Jeffrey P.,
Karnauskas Kristopher B.,
Marsicek Jeremiah
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl060183
Subject(s) - holocene , oceanography , geology , water level , centennial , climate change , climatology , physical geography , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , archaeology , cartography , geotechnical engineering
Geophysical and sedimentary records from five lakes in Massachusetts reveal regionally coherent hydrologic variability during the Holocene. All of the lakes have risen since ~9.0 ka, but multicentury droughts after 5.6 ka repeatedly lowered their water levels. Quantified water level histories from the three best‐studied lakes share >70% of their reconstructed variance. Four prominent low‐water phases at 4.9–4.6, 4.2–3.9, 2.9–2.1, and 1.3–1.2 ka were synchronous across coastal lakes, even after accounting for age uncertainties. The droughts also affected sites up to ~200 km inland, but water level changes at 5.6–4.9 ka appear out of phase between inland and coastal lakes. During the enhanced multicentury variability after ~5.6 ka, droughts coincided with cooling in Greenland and may indicate circulation changes across the North Atlantic region. Overall, the records demonstrate that current water levels are exceptionally high and confirm the sensitivity of water resources in the northeast U.S. to climate change.