Abstract:
A pollen analytical study of the peat horizon
exposed in the Lee Creek phosphate mine indicates that it was deposited in a freshwater environment during interglacial time (probably Sangamon). The freshwater nature of the deposit is
suggested by the high percentage of sedge and
grass pollen; the presence of Potamogeton , Brasenia,
Nuphar, Mynophyllum scabratum, M. heterophyllum,
Pontedena, Sagittana, Nymphaea , Typha-Sparganium,
and Isoetes ; the occurrence of Botryococcus, Pediastrum boryanum , and Tetraedron ; the low percentage
of chenopod-amaranth pollen; and the absence of
brackish indicators, such as Ruppia and Iva. The
interglacial age (rather than interstadial) is sug¬
gested by the general absence of “boreal indica¬
tors,” the similarity of the tree pollen frequencies
to those from interglacial deposits both to the
north and south, and the general similarity of the
fossil spectrum to modern pollen assemblages
from eastern North Carolina.
