Pollen Analysis of the Peat Member from the Lee Creek Mine

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.