Are late-glacial climate oscillations recorded in varves of the upper Connecticut Valley, northeastern United States?

Ernst Antevs' original varve chronology for the upper Connecticut Valley in New England (USA), published in 1922 and 1928, has been extended and a C-1 4 calibration has been established based on 1736(-20)(+35) varves containin g terrestrial plant macrofossils at Newbury, Vermont. Varve deposition at N ewbury began in a glacial lake (12.1 C-14 kyr BP) and persisted in a non-gl acial lake (to at least 10.4 C-14 kyr BP). The calibrated Newbury varve str atigraphy and associated glacial events may be compared to climatic events recognized in cores from modem lakes in eastern North America and Europe an d in Greenland ice cores. Thickness of glacial varves at Newbury is difficu lt to correlate to climate because of the thinning of varves in response to ice recession, flood events, and lake level changes that obscure thickness changes resulting from climate change. The Littleton-Bethlehem Readvance ( 11.9-11.8 C-14 kyr BP), that is tied to the varves, may correspond to Older Dryas (GI-1d) cooling. Non-glacial (after 11.6 C-14 kyr BP) varve thicknes s cannot be unequivocally tied to climate but may represent a proxy record of temperature with thin varves representing warm intervals and cold events represented by thicker varves displaying a pronounced 25-yr oscillation. T he Intra-Allerod Cold Period (GI-1b), recognized in eastern North America a s the Killarney Oscillation, and the Younger Dryas (GS-1) may be recorded b y thicker varves at 11.1-10.8 C-14 kyr BP and beginning at 10.65 C-14 kyr B P.