CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Boyd, M.; Running IV, G.L.; and Havholm, K.G.
Date : 2002.
Title : Paleoecology, geochronology, and archaeology of the glacial Lake Hind basin, southwestern Manitoba, Canada, during the Pleistocene - Holocene transition.
Publication : Geological Association of Canada and Mineralogical Association of Canada Joint Annual Meeting, May 27 - 29, 2002. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
New lithostratigraphic and paleoecologic data from the glacial Lake Hind basin, southwestern Manitoba, are clarifying the complex relationship between climate, hydrology, and biotic succession during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition on the Canadian Prairies. The glacial Lake Hind Basin is one of four ecologically complex and archaeologically rich localities across the Canadian prairies under investigation by SCAPE (Study of Cultural Adaptations within the Prairie Ecozone). Furthermore, these data provide the basis for a new interpretation of Folsom complex (~11,000-10,000 BP) land-use in the glacial Lake Hind basin study area. The geological samples analyzed for this study were extracted from deposits exposed in a cutbank of the Souris River in the Lauder Sandhills. The Lauder Sandhills, located in the south central portion of the glacial Lake Hind basin, are one of ~20 dune occurrences in the glacial Lake Hind basin. Based on analysis of a finely laminated organic unit, drainage of the south central glacial Lake Hind basin was completed shortly before 10420 +/- 70 RCYBP. Microfossil evidence indicates that, by this time, a widespread, upland community (dominated by Picea glauca, Juniperus, Artemisia, Populus, Shepherdia, and Poaceae) was established surrounding the glacial Lake Hind basin. Macrobotanical evidence indicates three successional assemblages occurred within the glacial Lake Hind basin from ~10900-9100 RCYBP: (1) a pioneering Cyperaceae-dominated assemblage; (2) a bryophyte-dominated interval; and (3) a subsequent Menyanthes-Equisetum assemblage. These changes in vegetation assemblages record a regional (glacial Lake Hind basin-wide) increase in the depth to water table through time, and changes in the magnitude of groundwater fluctuations in response to postglacial warming. Furthermore, we suggest the occurrence of Folsom complex materials in the southern Hind basin reflects a practice of seasonal resource-extraction on the recently drained bed of glacial Lake Hind, particularly during the sedge-dominated interval before 10,400 RCYBP.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology