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Late Pleistocene eolian features in southeastern Maryland and Chesapeake Bay region indicate strong WNW–NW winds accompanied growth of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Helaine W. Markewich ,
Ronald J. Litwin ,
Milan J. Pavich  and
George A. Brook
Helaine W. Markewich*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 3039 Amwiler Rd., Ste 130, Peachtree Business Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30360-2824, USA
Ronald J. Litwin
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA
Milan J. Pavich
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA
George A. Brook
Affiliation:
University of Georgia Department of Geography, Athens, Georgia, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 770 903 9199. Email Address:[email protected]
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Abstract

Inactive parabolic dunes are present in southeastern Maryland, USA, along the east bank of the Potomac River. More elongate and finer-grained eolian deposits and paha-like ridges characterize the Potomac River–Patuxent River upland and the west side of Chesapeake Bay. These ridges are streamlined erosional features, veneered with eolian sediment and interspersed with dunes in the low-relief headwaters of Potomac- and Patuxent-river tributaries. Axis data for the dunes and ridges indicate formation by WNW–NW winds. Optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon age data suggest dune formation from ∼ 33–15 ka, agreeing with the 30–13 ka ages Denny, C.S., Owens, J.P., Sirkin, L., Rubin, M., 1979. The Parsonburg Sand in the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 1067-B, 16 pp. suggested for eolian deposits east of Chesapeake Bay. Age range and paleowind direction(s) for eolian features in the Bay region approximate those for late Wisconsin loess in the North American midcontinent. Formation of midcontinent loess and Bay-region eolian features was coeval with rapid growth of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and strong cooling episodes (δ18O minima) evident in Greenland ice cores. Age and paleowind-direction coincidence, for eolian features in the midcontinent and Bay region, indicates strong mid-latitude WNW–NW winds for several hundred kilometers south of the Laurentide glacial terminus that were oblique to previously simulated anticyclonic winds for the last glacial maximum.

Keywords

EolianDunePahaPaleowindChesapeake Bay regionLate PleistoceneLast glacial maximum
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 409 - 425
Copyright
University of Washington

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