Atlas of Mapped Distributions of Dominance and Modern Pollen Percentages for Important Tree Taxa of Eastern North America.

By mapping and summarizing 478 pollen counts from surface samples at 406 locations in eastern North America, this study documents the relationships between the distributions of pollen and vegetation on a continental scale. The most common pollen types in this region are pine, birch, oak, and spruce. Maps showing isopercentage contours or isopolls for 13 important pollen types reflect the general N-S zonation of the vegetation. The maps and tabulations of average pollen spectra for the six major vegetational regions indicate high values for the following pollen types in each region: (1) tundra-nonarboreal birch, sedge, and alder; (2) forest/tundra-spruce, nonarboreal birch and alder; (3) boreal forest-spruce, jack pine (type), and arboreal birch with fir in the southeastern part; (4) conifer/hardwood forest-white pine, arboreal birch, and hemlock with beech, maple, and oak in the southern part; (5) deciduous forest-oak, pine, hickory, and elm, with beech and maple in the northern part, and highest values of oak and hickory west of the Appalachian crest; and (6) southeastern forest-pine, oak, hickory, tupelo, and Myricaceae. In some cases, less abundant pollen types are diagnostic for the region, e.g., bald cypress in the southeast. In the conifer-hardwood region and southward, pollen of weeds associated with deforestation and agriculture is abundant. The maps also show that much of southeastern U.S. and the area just to the east of Hudson Bay are in need of additional sampling. At 51 of the sites, absolute pollen frequencies (APF; grains/ml lake sediment) were obtained. These confirm the major conclusions from the percentage data, but differences are evident, e.g., the percentages of alder pollen peak in the tundra whereas alder APFs peak in the boreal forest, and spruce percentages peak in the forest-tundra whereas spruce APFs peak in the boreal forest. Because the APF data reflect the patterns of absolute abundance of individual taxa in the vegetation as well as the overall forest densities, future counts of modern pollen should include APF determinations. The effects of sedimentation processes on APF quantities indicate that APF samples should be obtained from moderate size lakes of similar morphology and hydrology and that, in each lake, several samples from the profundal zone should be pooled to create a sample representative of that lake.

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Geology of the early Mesozoic basins of eastern North America: workshop, May 11-14, 1987, auditorium, USGS National Center, Reston, Virginia

10.3133/66 ◽

1987 ◽

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Early Mesozoic

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The Early Cambrian fossil Salterella conulata Clark in eastern North America

Professional Paper ◽

10.3133/pp683b ◽

1970 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

E.L. Yochelson

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Early Cambrian

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The Identification and Study of Indian Shell Middens in Eastern North America: 1643–1861

North American Archaeologist ◽

10.2190/e9u1-2nh4-d6lj-jwqa ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 227-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew L. Christenson

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Civil War ◽

North America ◽

East Coast ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Shell Midden ◽

Shell Middens ◽

Work Done

Although the interest in shell middens in North America is often traced to reports of the discoveries in Danish kjoekkenmoeddings in the mid-nineteenth century, extensive shell midden studies were already occurring on the East Coast by that time. This article reviews selected examples of this early work done by geologists and naturalists, which served as a foundation for shell midden studies by archaeologists after the Civil War.

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