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Description
CLIMBS P2 (Climate Learning, Prediction, and Building Response Systems Project 2: Paleo-perspectives) focuses on improving our understanding of historical flooding and landslide events in Kentucky using paired Holocene paleoclimate and sedimentary records. To date, few published paleoclimate records exist (Liu et al., 2013; Nunez Otano et al., in prep.). As an initial step in meeting the aims of P2, the OPaL lab at Morehead State University is focusing on completion of an in-progress latest Pleistocene - early Holocene palynology-based paleoclimate record derived from sediments in legacy Andrews/KGS cores from Big Bone Lick in Northern Kentucky. This region is the birthplace of vertebrate paleontology in North America after French explorers were led to and collected vertebrate in the area in 1739. Significant archaeological and paleontological excavation work has been conducted at Big Bone Lick over the last 285 years, however, prior to the OPaL Lab's involvement, no viable palynological analysis had been completed, making characterization of the ecosystem and paleoclimate reconstruction incomplete. Of previous attempts, only Leopold (Pecora, 1965) had moderate success, and only on clays recovered from inside the skull of a Bootherium, which contained primarily degraded spruce pollen. The OPaL Lab's involvement in study of Big Bone Lick began in academic year 2016-2017 when Craft Academy students Carissa Sweeney and Tucker Jett analyzed eight samples from profile 2 of Tankersley et al. (201 S). The samples were processed using no mineral acids and cleaned of cellulosic and pectinic debris (degraded non-pollen plant tissues) using enzymes, rather than acetolysis (O'Keefe and Wymer, 2017). This very gentle method permitted recovery of a damaged, but abundant palynoflora. Subsequent study of Andrews/KGS Core 3 by Craft Academy Students Sara Olmstead, Lucy Steiner, Maggie Alden, and undergraduate Maggie Stephenson in 2018-2020 highlighted the diversity of environments present at the site, however, sample analysis was not completed. Here we present updated results and the current state-of knowledge about palynology-indicated paleoclimates and paleoecology at Big Bone Lick.
Publication Date
4-16-2025
Disciplines
Higher Education | Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Recommended Citation
Alden, Margaret; O'Keefe, Jennifer; Reid, Tori; Sprinkle, Hannah; and Wasinger, Avery, "CLIMBS: Revisiting Big Bone Lick to develop a Late Quarternary Climate Record for Kentucky" (2025). 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations. 3.
https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2025/3