14C chronology for ice retreat and inception of Champlain Sea in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Canada

Abstract

AMS radiocarbon cross-dating of plant debris and marine shells trapped in a lake basin on Mount St. Hilaire (Québec, Canada) provides a direct assessment of a reservoir effect totaling ca. 1800 14C years during the early stage of Champlain Sea. Pollen-based extrapolation of bottommost ages on terrestrial plant macrofossils in sediments of this lake, and of another lake nearby support an estimate of 11,100 ± 100 14C yr B.P. for marine invasion in the Central St. Lawrence River Lowlands. Results indicate a 400–1000 years younger regional chronology of ice retreat, now congruent with the one inferred from the New England varve chronology. This is a summary of a longer paper to be published in French.