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Document Type

Article

DOI

10.25778/8q18-ay59

Abstract

Gravity and push cores from the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers (Virginia Tidewater) were collected from central and proximal estuarine zones with known seasonal salinity stratification. The lowermost microfossil associations in the cores comprise alternating ostracode populations of Cyprideis salebrosa and Cytheromorpha. This microfossil association gives way to an oligohaline association dominated by the freshwater ostracode Darwinula stevensoni. Stable oxygen isotope values (δ18O) of Rapphannock Cyprideis salebrosa are highly variable ranging between -6.6 to -3.2‰ VPDB. δ18O values for Potomac Cytheromorpha fuscata range from -8.2 to -3.2‰ VPDB. Positive excursions in δ18O values are synchronous with population peaks for both Cyprideis and Cytheromorpha indicative of increased marine influence and/or higher salinities. Microfossil paleoecology coupled with oxygen isotope values record a marked shift towards gradual freshening and deterioration of the salinity structure in the tidal tributaries during the mid-to late 19th century. We attribute these trends to both decadal climate trends and aggressive land use practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed during the late 19th to middle 20th centuries.

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