Ecohydrology Research Group postdoctoral fellow Eunji Byun published a new article in Nature Geoscience titled "Extensive wetland development in mid-latitude North America during the Bølling–Allerød". In the study, which was part of Eunji's PhD at the University of Toronto, the authors hypothesized extensive wetland formation in the American Midwest during the late glacial period (~14,000 years ago) when the ice sheet was fast retreating and supplying large volume of meltwater rivers flowing through the region. This wetland hypothesis helps explain the long-term enigma of this region’s paleoecology ‘no analog pollen vegetation’ and touches on the issue of sudden megafauna herbivory/habitat shift. This past extensive wetland is also important to note because it potentially contributed to the global biogeochemical event during the Bølling-Allerød warm climate interval with fast increase of methane in the atmosphere.
To access the article, click here.