Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Recognition of the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes in Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee sediments using pollen data

  • Published:
Journal of Paleolimnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Reelfoot Lake is located within the New Madrid Seismic Zone, a region characterized by ongoing seismic activity and the locus of a series of large earthquakes (m b >7) during 1811–1812. Coseismic uplift and subsidence from the 1811–1812 events formed the lake basin from a partially inundated alluvial bottomland forest. Lithologic, chronologic, and palynologic data from a vibracore are used here to characterize the 1811–1812 earthquake record in lacustrine sediments. The stratigraphic record consists of a poorly consolidated upper silt, an intervening 10-cm sand layer, overlying a compact lower silt. Calibrated radiocarbon age estimates on wood samples from both silt units indicate deposition during historical time (1490–1890 AD).

Better age estimates were obtained by correlating pollen assemblage data from the upper and lower silt with the historical record of land-use change in the Reelfoot Lake region. Two factors resulted in changing plant distributions (and hence pollen assemblages) in Reelfoot Lake sediments: 1) altered drainage patterns of Reelfoot Creek and Bayou de Chien resulting from 1811–1812 uplift and subsidence, and 2) deforestation and subsequent cultivation beginning approximately 1850 AD. The upper silt is characterized by a oak/cedar arboreal pollen (AP) assemblage, showing a mixture of upland and alluvial bottomland AP influx from the region to the open lake basin. Non-arboreal pollen (NAP) in the upper silt shows increasing abundance of Composites, particularly ragweed pollen indicating cultivation. This unit was deposited after the 1811–1812 earthquakes. The intervening sand layer was apparently emplaced by earthquake activity, or represents colluvium derived from most recent (1811–1812) coseismic uplift of Reelfoot scarp, which forms the western margin of the lake. The lower silt is characterized by a baldcypress/cedar AP assemblage with minor percentages of other flood-tolerant AP genera, interpreted as a baldcypress-dominated bottomland forest. Pollen influx in this environment is dominated by gravity-component deposition from local sources. The NAP in the lower silt shows that ragweed is rare or absent, suggesting pre-settlement conditions and deposition prior to 1811–1812.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atwater, B. F., 1987, Evidence for great Holocene earthquakes along the outer coast of Washington state. Science 236: 942–944.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atwater, B. F. & D. K. Yamaguchi, 1991. Sudden, probably coseismic submergence of Holocene trees and grass in coastal Washington state. Geology 19: 706–709.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bazzaz, F. A., 1974. Ecophysiology of Ambrosia artemisifolia: A successful dominant. Ecology 55: 112–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, C., P. Rochette & M. Tardy, 1992. Interprétation en terms de paléosismicité de niveaux destructurés intercalés des rythmites lacustres quaternaires des Alpes nord-occidentales. C. r. Acad. Sci., Paris 315 (Série 2): 1525–1532.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broshears, R. B., 1991. Characterization of bottom-sediment, water, and elutriate chemistry at selected stations at Reelfoot Lake, TN. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 90-4181, 13 pp.

  • Brugam, R. B., 1978. Pollen indicators of land-use change in southern Connecticut. Quat. Res. 9: 349–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W. T., W. C. Jackson, G. L. Keathley & C. L. Moore, 1969. Soil Survey of Lake County, Tennessee. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, 39 pp. plus plates.

  • Brush, G. S., E. A. Martin, R. S. DeFries & C. A. Rice, 1982. Comparisons of 210Pb and pollen methods for determining rates of estuarine sediment accumulation. Quat. Res. 18: 196–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clague, J. J. & P. T. Bobrowsky, 1994. Evidence for a large earthquake and tsunami 100–400 years ago on western Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Quaternary Research 41: 176–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, S. H.Jr. & G. A. Carver, 1992. Late Holocene tectonics and paleoseismicity, southern Cascadia subduction zone. Science 255: 188–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. B., 1976. Erosion rates and land-use history in southern Michigan. Environmental Conservation 3: 139–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doig, R., 1986. A method for determining the frequency of largemagnitude earthquakes using lake sediments. Can. J. Earth Sci. 23: 930–937.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doig, R., 1990. 2300 yr history of seismicity from silting events in Lake Tadoussac, Charlevoix, Quebec. Geology 18: 820–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean, W. E.Jr., 1974. Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: Comparison with other methods. J. Sediment. Petrol. 44: 242–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faegri, K & J. Iverson, 1989. Textbook of Pollen Analysis, 4th ed.: Oxford, England. Blackwell, 328 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, M. L., 1912. The New Madrid Earthquake. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 494, 119 pp.

  • Gee, G. W. & J. W. Bauder, 1986. Particle Size Analysis. In A. Klute (ed.), Methods of Soil Analysis. Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin 383–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleen, L. C., 1933, The geography and geology of Reelfoot Lake; Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 8: 2–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887. Goodspeed's History of Gibson, Obion, Weakley, Dyer, and Lake Counties, Tennessee. Nashville, TN. 852–853.

  • Hazard, J. O., 1933. The trees of the Reelfoot Lake region: Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 8: 55–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt, W. H. & J. M. Demarest, II, 1981. Vibracoring in coastal environments. Delaware Sea Grant publication DEL-SG-01-81, 34 pp.

  • Hull, A. G., 1986. Pre-A.D. 1931 tectonic subsidence of Ahuriri Lagoon, Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 29: 75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kapp, R. O., 1969. How to know pollen and spores. William C. Brown Co. Dubuque, IA, 249 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelson, K. I., R. B. VanArsdale, G. D. Simpson & W. R. Lettis, 1992. Assessment of the style and timing of surficial deformation along the central Reelfoot scarp, Lake County, Tennessee. Seismological Research Letters 63: 349–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, J. E., 1978. New evidence on the history of the St. Francis Sunk Lands, northeastern Arkansas. Geological Society of America Bulletin 89: 1719–1722.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee, W. J., 1892. A fossil earthquake. Geological Society of America Bulletin 4: 411–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGill, J.T. & W. W. Craig, 1933. The ownership of Reelfoot Lake. Tennessee Academy of Sciences Journal 8: 13–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, S. C. & J. W. Naney, 1990. Reelfoot Lake sediment rates and sources. Wat. Resour. Bull. 26: 227–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKeown, F. A., 1982. Overview and discussion. In F. A. McKeown & L. C. Pakiser (eds.), Investigations of the New Madrid Missouri, Earthquake Region. U.S. Geological Survey Prof Paper 1236-A: 1–14.

  • Mathewes, R. W. & J. J. Clague, 1994. Detection of large prehistoric aerthquakes in the Pacific northwest by microfossil analysis. Science 264: 688–691.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neiswender, J. B., 1984. The plant communities of the third Chickasaw loess bluff and Mississippi River alluvial plain, Shelby County, Tennessee: Unpubl. M.S. thesis, Memphis State University, 119 pp.

  • Royall, P. D., P. A. Delcourt & H. R. Delcourt, 1991. Late Quaternary paleoecology and paleoenvironments of the central Mississippi alluvial valley. Geological Society of America Bulletin 103: 157–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russ, D. P., 1979, Late Holocene faulting and earthquake recurrence in the Reelfoot Lake area, northwestern Tennessee. Geological Society of America Bulletin 90: 1013–1018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russ, D. P., 1982. Style and significance of surface deformation in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri. In F. A. McKeown & L. C. Pakiser (eds.), Investigations of the New Madrid Missouri, Earthquake Region. U.S. Geological Survey Prof. Paper 1236-H: 95–114.

  • Shedlock, K. M. & A. C. Johnston, 1994. Introduction-Investigations of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. In K. M. Shedlock & A. C. Johnston (eds.), Investigations of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. U.S. Geological Survey Prof. Paper 1538-A: A1–A6.

  • Shilts, W. W. & J. J. Clague, 1992. Documentation of earthquake-induced disturbance of lake sediments using subbottom acoustic profiling. Can. J. Earth Sci. 29: 1018–1042.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegenthaler, C., W. Finger, K. Kelts & S. Wang, 1987. Earthquake and seiche deposits in Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. Ecol. geol. Helv. 80: 241–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegenthaler, C. & M. Sturm, 1991. Slump induced surges and sediment transport in Lake Uri, Switzerland. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 24: 955–958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sims, J. D., 1973. Earthquake-induced structures in sediments of van Norman Lake, San Fernando, California. Science 182: 161–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sims, J. D., 1975. Determining earthquake recurrence intervals from deformational structures in young lacustrine sediments. Tectonophysics 29: 141–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahle, D. W., R. B. VanArsdale, M. K. Cleaveland, 1992. Tectonic signal in baldcypress tress at Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee. Seismological Research Letters 63: 439–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stihler, S. D., D. B. Stone & J. E. Beget, 1992. ‘Varve’ counting vs tephrochrology and 137Cs and 210Pb dating: A comparative test at Skilak Lake, Alaska. Geology 20: 1019–1022.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuiver, M. & P. J. Reimer, 1993. Extended C14 data base and revised CALIB 3.0 C14 age calibrationprogram. Radiocarbon 35: 215–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, S. C., 1930. The beginnings of western Tennessee. Watauga Press, Johnson City, Tennessee 157–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, H. E., 1980. Cores of soft lake sediments. Boreas 9: 106–114.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Charleston, 29424, Charleston, SC, USA

    Mirecki June E.

Authors
  1. Mirecki June E.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mirecki, J.E. Recognition of the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes in Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee sediments using pollen data. J Paleolimnol 15, 183–191 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196780

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196780

Key words

Search

Navigation