A revised Holocene geochronology for the Lower Mississippi Valley

Data from two locations, 1) a hydrodam site at the Old River Diversion structure south of the latitude of Natchez MS and 2) eight water wells from the latitude of Baton Rouge, LA, are the basis for a revised Holocene geochronology of the Lower Mississippi River floodplain based on 84 radiocarbon dates, analyses of 64 borehole logs, and 75 grain-size analyses, which together provide major insight into questions concerning the complexity of meander belt movement, the influence of the Younger Dryas on the lower valley, and on the Pleistocene/Holocene interface. Following the Younger Dryas, the early Holocene was characterized by periodic flooding and deposition separated by times of little or no deposition.