Water-level change recorded in Lake Pac Chen Quintana Roo, Mexico infers connection with the aquifer and response to Holocene sea-level rise and Classic Maya droughts

Pac Chen Lake is located on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and is ~ 42 km from the coast and ~ 22 km NE of Coba. It has an area of ~ 36,735 m2 and maximum depth of 25 m. Four sediment cores along a depth transect provide a 4-ka record of the evolution of the eastern deep basin (core PC1 at 25 m depth) and the shallow margin (cores PC2–4 at 0.25–5 m depth). PC1 shows the effect of water-level rise and flooding of the shallow margin (2.8–1.8 ka) …