Fossil Pine Pollen and Full‐Glacial Vegetation in Southeastern North Carolina

Abstract

A reassessment of the difficulties inherent in size—frequency identification of pollen indicates that the reliability of the method is of low order. Accurate identifications assume: (1) Adequate data on size variation for all relevant extant species; (2) a standardized method of preparation for all modern samples; (3) use of mounting medium in which size is stabilized (not glycerine or glycerine—jelly); (4) preparation of all samples from a given fossil profile by an identical technique (not necessarily the same as that employed for modern material); (5)cognizance of the fact that size of modern and fossil grains cannot be compared directly and that the size changes may occur as a function of sediment type within a profile; and (6) presentation of size—frequency curves for the fossil material. New Pollen size measurements for the 13 eastern pines indicate that no single species can be identified on a size—frequency basis. The mode for small pine grains described by Frey from the full—glacial portion (M Zone) of the Singletary Lake profile could have been contributed to by either jack pine or red pine (or both). These data and new pollen analyses from the M Zone sediments suggest that the dominant full—glacial forest type in the region consisted of widely spaced pines (jack and/or red pine) associated with heliophytic herbs and shrubs (Artemisia, Polygonella, Plantago, Ambrosia, caryophylls, and chenopods). Boreal elements (Picea, Abies, Schizeae pusilla, Sanguisorba canadensis, Lycopodium annotinum, L. lucidulum) may have occurred on more mesic sites surrounding the lakes or on the poorly drained inter—Bay regions.

Surficial geologic map of the Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle, North Carolina

“…concerning localities CC-1-07, CS-7-08, ES-4-08, HA-5-04, NL-2-06, SL-4-07, SL-6-07, and TO-3-08, 2005, 2008. These dates are consistent with other studies that indicate that these windblown sand sheets and associated Carolina bays mostly formed during the Wisconsin glacial interval (Frey, 1953(Frey, , 1955Whitehead, 1964;Soller, 1988;Markewich and Markewich, 1994;others, 2004, 2007), though the sands locally have been reactivated in Holocene time. These deposits are intimately associated with the "Carolina bays" (Johnson, 1942;Kaczorowski, 1977) that are prominent in this region, and the alignment of the sand deposits generally matches the long axis of the bays.…”

Pollen production estimates (PPEs) and fall speeds for major tree taxa and relevant source areas of pollen (RSAP) in Changbai Mountain, northeastern China

“…smaller than that for Pinus koraiensis which has a mean long axis length of 71.75 μm. Eisenhut (1961) obtained lower (Eisenhut, 1961) fall speed of pollen grain for P. strobus than for Pinus rigida, which was attributed to their grain-size variation as P. rigida grains were 2-8 μm larger than P. strobus (Whitehead, 1964). Pollen fall speed can be calculated by Stokes' Law, which, in theory, is determined by pollen grain size, shape and density.…”

THE IDENTIFICATION OF BETULA NANA POLLEN

“…Several of the problems of pollen size statistics have been reviewed by Whitehead (1964), Before pollen size analysis can be used as a reliable method of identification, data are required on pollen size and its variability for present-day species. For American Betula species there is no significant size difference in pollen from various positions on a tree or from within a single catkin (Clausen,i960).…”