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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2019

Gordon R.M. Bromley*
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, National University of Ireland Galway, GalwayH91 TK33, Ireland
Brenda L. Hall
Affiliation:
Climate Change Institute and School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, Maine04469, USA
Woodrow B. Thompson
Affiliation:
Maine Geological Survey, 93 State House Station, Augusta, Maine04333, USA
Thomas V. Lowell
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio45221, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, National University of Ireland Galway, GalwayH91 TK33, Ireland. E-mail address: gordon.bromley@nuigalway.ie (G.R.M. Bromley).
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Abstract

At 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.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019
Figure 0

Figure 1. Map of New England, northeastern United States, and southeastern Canada, showing the locations and approximate ages of the White Mountain moraine system (WMMS; red square) and other ice-marginal positions relative to the last glacial maximum (LGM) ice sheet limit and the postglacial Champlain Sea (CS: pink shading; see Richard and Occhietti, 2005). Deglacial limits in the Connecticut River valley adapted from Ridge et al. (2012). LMeg, Lac Megantic area (mean of two calibrated basal 14C ages from Lacs Dubuc and Clinton; Elkadi, 2013); PRM, Pineo Ridge moraine (Hall et al., 2017); LM, Ledyard moraine (Balco and Schaefer, 2006); StNM, Sant-Narcisse moraine (Occhietti, 2007). Territorial abbreviations: CT, Connecticut; QC, Québec; MA, Massachusetts; ME, Maine; NB, New Brunswick; NH, New Hampshire; NY, New York; RI, Rhode Island. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Figure 1

Figure 2. Topographic map of the White Mountains region, showing the mapped (solid black lines) and conjectured (dashed black lines) extent of the White Mountain moraine system (WMMS) and location of the Berlin moraines (red rectangle). Dashed yellow and red lines indicate the conjectured continuation of the former ice margin east of the Berlin moraines according to Thompson et al. (2017) and Bromley et al. (2015), respectively. Proximal lake sites providing minimum-limiting 14C age control for the WMMS are indicated by green circles (note: South Pond is located just off the map in the direction of the black arrow). Distal lake sites (blue circles) mentioned in the text: POS, Pond of Safety; YP, York Pond. Key moraine sites discussed in the text are indicated by red triangles: AM, Androscoggin moraine; BHM, Beech Hill moraine; CD, Comerford Dam; SAM, Sleeping Astronomer moraine. White arrows denote former ice-flow direction. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Figure 2

Figure 3. Glacial-geomorphic map of the Upper Ammonoosuc River valley study area. Locations and surface-exposure ages of sampled boulders are shown. Red and orange arrows denote approximate ice-flow direction during deposition of the Berlin and higher moraines, respectively. YP, York Pond. Underlying light detection and ranging (LIDAR) imagery obtained from the GRANIT LIDAR distribution site (http://lidar.unh.edu/map/), University of New Hampshire. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Figure 3

Figure 4. (color online) Sampled glacially molded boulders on the Berlin moraines: BM-12-01 (A); BM-12-02 (B); BM-12-03 (C); BM-12-04 (left) and BM-12-05 (right) (D); BM-12-07 (E); and BM-12-08 (F).

Figure 4

Table 1. Sample details and 10Be surface-exposure ages for the Berlin moraine samples. All exposure ages and 1σ uncertainties shown are calculated using the northeastern North America (NENA) production rate (Balco et al., 2009) and St scaling (Lal, 1991; Stone, 2000). Mean ages are reported along with the standard error of the mean.

Figure 5

Figure 5. Stacked age probability curves for the Berlin, Littleton-Bethlehem, and Androscoggin moraines (individual and summed probability curves denoted by black and red lines, respectively), relative to the minimum-limiting 14C age data (shown in green as a summed probability curve) discussed in the text. Exposure ages calculated using the NENA (northeastern North America) production rate and time-independent St scaling. Vertical yellow bands depict the standard deviation of the mean 10Be ages (vertical black lines). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Figure 6

Table 2. Basal radiocarbon and calibrated ages from three distal lake sites providing minimum-limiting control for the White Mountain moraine system (WMMS).