湖泊沉积物的14 C和光释光测年* ——以固城湖为例

富含有机质的湖泊沉积物被认为是¹⁴ C测年建立古环境记录年代标尺的理想材料,光释光测年方法近年开始应用于水成沉积物的定年。应用¹⁴ C和光释光两种方法对江苏固城湖湖心钻孔岩芯进行了年龄测定,结果表明全样有机质的¹⁴ C年龄与石英的光释光年龄存在系统差异,后者较前者年轻约2000年。系统光释光测年研究排除了光释光年龄低估的可能性,所以,二者的差异可能是湖泊沉积物碳库效应的反映。     

博斯腾湖湖泊沉积物光释光年代测量*

使用光释光年代学的单片再生法测量了博斯腾湖沉积剖面中碳酸盐泥及粉砂质泥底部的浅湖相灰色粉细砂和风成沙的年龄,对剖面上部碳酸盐层中陆生植物残体进行了AMS ¹⁴ C测年。通过不同测片的等效剂量(D_e)值的分布状况评价了样品的晒褪程度,选择不随灵敏度校正后的自然释光信号变化的相对集中的等效剂量(D_e)值计算了样品的埋藏年龄。通过这些年龄结果的对比,发现石英矿物的OSL年龄和AMS ¹⁴ C年龄在地层上是一致的,表明尽管在浅湖相细砂中存在不完全晒褪,但根据相对较小而集中的D_e值计算得到的年龄结果是可靠的。这些年龄结果和地层资料揭示末次冰消期以来至早全新世,博斯腾湖处于无水干盆地向深水湖泊转化的浅水湖泊状态,现代深水博斯腾湖大约形成于距今8ka前后。     

北京大学AMS 14 C 国际比对样品测量*

介绍了北京大学加速器质谱(AMS)实验室参加国际原子能机构 (IAEA) 组织的第五届¹⁴ C国际比对样品测量的过程和结果,包括样品制备、小型¹⁴ C测量加速器质谱计装置和比对测量结果的统计分析等。北京大学的测量结果与IAEA加权统计平均值的偏差在1σ之内, 这一结果较客观地体现了我国¹⁴ C AMS年代测定在国际同类实验室中所处的地位。     

14C测年技术新进展

¹⁴C测年技术的进展主要表现为3个方面：1)¹⁴C常规测定技术向高精度发展比较成熟，目前已可以普及；2)加速器质谱技术的建立和普及，使测定要求的样品碳量减少到mg级，甚至μg级，虽然目前的精度尚未超过常规方法，但由于所需样品量极少，测定时间短而工效高，大大拓宽了应用范围；3)高精度¹⁴C－树轮年龄校正曲线的建立，不但可将样品的¹⁴C年龄转换到日历年龄，而且对有时序的系列样品的¹⁴C年龄数据通过曲线拟合方法转换到日历年龄时年龄误差大为缩小。     

神农架大九湖15.753kaB.P.以来的孢粉记录和环境演变*

根据对大九湖297cm厚的泥炭地层10个AMS ¹⁴ C年龄的测定以及148块孢粉样品的分析,发现每块样品的孢粉(浓度)含量都很高,植物种类繁多,分属于137(科)属,可划分为6个孢粉组合带,植被类型演替大体为:含少量常绿树种的针阔叶混交林—含常绿阔叶树种的落叶阔叶林—常绿落叶阔叶林—含常绿阔叶树种的落叶阔叶林—含少量常绿树种的针阔叶混交林。孢粉带Ⅰ(15.753~11.280kaB.P.)记录了该区域晚冰期及其向全新世过渡时期冷暖波动频繁的气候条件,其中亚带Ⅰ -1(15.753~15.549kaB.P.),Ⅰ -3(14.936~14.505kaB.P.)和Ⅰ -5(12.655~11.280kaB.P.)可能分别对应最老仙女木期、老仙女木和新仙女木冷期,而亚带Ⅰ -2(15.549~14.936kaB.P.)和Ⅰ -4(14.505~12.655kaB.P.)分别对应博令和阿勒罗德暖期。孢粉带Ⅱ(11.280~9.218kaB.P.)代表了由晚冰期冷湿气候向全新世温暖气候转换的早全新世缓慢升温的过渡时期。孢粉带Ⅲ(9.218~7.530kaB.P.)代表中全新世前期的气温波动上升期,7.7kaB.P.前后达到最高温。孢粉带Ⅳ(7.530~4.051kaB.P.)代表中全新世适宜期,水热配置条件最佳。孢粉带Ⅴ(4.051~0.911kaB.P.)体现晚全新世温干的气候。孢粉带Ⅵ(0.911~0kaB.P)反映了大九湖温凉稍湿的气候。     

岱海14 C测年的现代碳库效应研究*

碳库效应的复杂性是影响建立湖泊沉积物高精度年代序列的一大障碍。本项研究通过我国内蒙古半干旱区封闭湖泊表层沉积物、湖水、现生沉水植物狐尾藻、现生鲤鱼鱼骨和湖岸表层土壤等一系列样品的¹⁴ C年代测定,表明现代岱海确实存在碳库效应。碳库效应年龄因湖水盐度在湖区的不均而有所变化,岱海西部湖区弓坝河径流补给量大,湖水盐度较东部稍低,碳库效应年龄也略小于东部湖区。表层沉积物中有机质包含浮游生物和沉水植物的混合信息,因而其碳库效应年龄较沉水植物年龄轻,岱海湖心表层沉积物碳库效应年龄在2000a左右。这一碳库效应年龄较通过沉积钻孔¹⁴ C年龄线性回归获得的年龄偏大,可能的原因是在时间序列上碳库效应并非恒定。     

广东四会古森林地下生态系统14 C地层年代学研究*

运用AMS-¹⁴ C定年技术,研究了被埋藏水松古木的发育和死亡时间以及土壤剖面中总有机碳的¹⁴ C表观年龄和细根的¹⁴ C年龄。结果表明:该地区的水松古木开始发育和死亡的时间大致为4~3kaB.P. 。根据土壤有机碳¹⁴ C的表观年龄,该土壤剖面的¹⁴ C年代地层可以分为3层,分别为:1)表层,2634±32~3305±29aB.P. ; 2)腐殖层,3305±29~3813±31aB.P. ; 3)基底,3813±31~4544±33aB.P. 。基底、腐殖土层和表层的沉积速率分别为0.55mm/a, 4.33mm/a和0.26mm/a。 细根的¹⁴ C年龄变化范围为2290±29~3542±28aB.P. ,较同层位的土壤有机碳的年龄年轻。腐殖层土壤中有机碳含量高达33 ％ ~46 ％ ,大多数有机碳仍处于未分解状态。该地区自4~3kaB.P.以来,环境演化可能经历了由陆到沼泽再到被水淹没最后又变成陆地的过程,植被从以水松为优势种的森林群落演化成当前以常绿阔叶林为主的森林生态群落,气候和海平面变化、地质构造运动和人类活动是这种环境演化的主要驱动因子。     

柴达木盆地察尔汗贝壳堤剖面年代学研究*

利用常规¹⁴ C、加速器(AMS)和²³⁰ Th等测年方法,对位于青藏高原东北部柴达木盆地察尔汗古湖贝壳堤剖面化石贝壳、湖泊沉积(包括现代沉积)样品有机质(包括碱性残留和胡敏酸组分)、碳酸盐(CaCO₃)和剖面顶部石盐(NaCl)晶体在不同实验室进行了系统的实验研究,探讨了不同样品测年结果的可靠性和精确性,并通过与已有研究结果的对比,对柴达木盆地贝壳堤剖面记录的察尔汗古湖高湖面演化历史进行了探讨,得出察尔汗古湖高湖面形成于约39.7~17.5 ¹⁴ C kaB.P. ; 研究证明柴达木盆地沉积物中有机质含量很低,且主要来源于菌藻类等低等藻类和微生物,受老碳和溶解物质影响强烈,因此必须经过多种方法综合测年才能比较可靠地确定所测样品的形成年代; 测年结果的不确定性不仅来源于样品自身元素(同位素)的特性和沉积过程中再沉积作用的影响,也可能源自于放射性¹⁴ C产生过程的不稳定性; 对比发现贝壳化石老于同层位有机质¹⁴ C年龄15~18ka,这可能与柴达木盆地所处的特殊地理位置和巨大的古湖泊面积及水体有关; 同时,不平衡铀系测年在确定开放体系矿物晶体年代应用中的可靠性尚须进一步深入分析,其机理也还需要探讨和实验研究。     

黄土和红粘土中宇宙成因核素定年的潜力: 10 Be浓度与化学成分的关系*

宇宙成因核素¹⁰ Be(半衰期1.5Ma)不但是古环境变化的示踪剂,而且具有确定地质年龄的能力。80个全岩样品的¹⁰ Be和化学分析数据表明,黄土高原约6Ma以来的红粘土和黄土序列中年龄校正的¹⁰ Be浓度与沉积物粒度和风化程度的化学指标具有显著的关系。根据这种关系建立的¹⁰ Be浓度与化学指标的经验回归线性模型,可以估计红粘土和黄土形成时的¹⁰ Be浓度,确定红粘土和黄土形成的¹⁰ Be放射性年龄。     

基于大样本14 C测年资料的 华北平原沉积速率研究*

华北平原是我国研究程度较高的地区,历年来积累了大量的¹⁴ C测年资料。从这些资料中尽可能地提取沉积速率的信息,并进而研究华北平原沉积速率的变化及其与流域自然和人文环境变化之间的关系,是一个有重要意义的问题。利用华北平原456个地点的¹⁴ C年龄与样品埋深资料,计算出了各个样品所在层位沉积以来的平均沉积速率(R_T),以此来近似反映各地点的平原沉积速率,并据此建立了R_T随时间的变化关系。从古至今, R_T有明显的增大趋势。以点群的上包线反映各时代的平原最大沉积速率,该指标可以反映华北平原的主体即黄河下游冲积平原的沉积速率。发现了最大平均沉积速率随时间变化过程中的4个突变点,分别为10000aB.P. , 5000aB.P. , 3000aB.P. 和1400aB.P. 。4个突变点将上包线分成5条折线,由此可以将近4万年以来的变化分成5个阶段。从古至今,5条折线的斜率增大,反映了平原沉积的加速过程; 并对4个突变点的成因进行了解释。阶段1,阶段2和阶段3沉积速率的加速是由自然原因造成的; 阶段4和阶段5沉积速率的加速则是由自然和人为原因共同造成的。从456个地点的¹⁴ C年龄与样品埋深资料中提取了距今4万年以来华北平原的平均沉积速率的信息,计算出平均沉积速率为0.9mm/a。按此求出,近4万年以来华北平原的沉积总厚度为36m。     

Test of AMS 14C dating of pollen concentrates using tephrochronology

Previous attempts to radiocarbon date sediments >10 kyr from the high rainfall region of Westland, New Zealand, a critical location for investigation of interhemispheric patterns of climate change, have been problematic. This study, building on recent work by Vandergoes and Prior ( 2003 ), shows that AMS ¹⁴C dating of pollen concentrates has potential to provide more reliable ages than other sediment constituents, including plant macrofossils. The method was applied to sediments from three sites containing the 22.6k ¹⁴C yr Kawakawa Tephra, which provided an independent test of the ¹⁴C ages. Although some minor laboratory contamination was detected in tests on background standards, the modelled relationship between sample mass and measured ¹⁴C content permitted an appropriate correction to be determined. Improved pollen concentrations derived by density separation between 1.4 and 1.2 specific gravity and sieving in the range 10–50 μm provided either older ages than other fractions of the same sample or, where in situ contamination was not evident, equivalent ages. Differences in degree of in situ contamination between depositional environments indicated that, in Westland, lake sites may be less susceptible to contamination by younger carbon than peat sites, where this process may be facilitated by root penetration into underlying sediments. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strong correlation between summer temperature and pollen accumulation rates for Pinus sylvestris,Picea abies and Betula spp. in a high‐resolution record from northern Sweden

Highly resolved pollen spectra analysed from a 47 cm peat monolith recovered from a mire in northern Sweden exhibit climatic sensitivity in the pollen accumulation rates (PAR) of boreal treeline species. Robust temporal control, afforded through multiple AMS radiocarbon dating of the post‐atomic‐bomb‐test period (AD 1961–2002), provides a unique opportunity to compare pollen accumulation rates with the instrumental meteorological record. Strong correlations are observed between summer temperature and PAR for Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies and Betula spp. (excluding B. nana). Despite well constrained, contiguous (‘annual’) sampling, the temporal resolution of the pollen signal preserved within each sample appears to be degraded to ca. 3–5 year resolution. This is likely to reflect processes occurring during peat accumulation and pollen deposition, as well as dating uncertainties and the effects of subsampling. These findings identify limitations to the maximum resolution that may realistically be recovered from the peat archive using high‐resolution sampling protocols and AMS ¹⁴C dating. We also identify the need for additional work to quantify the role of climate on peat accumulation and the resultant impact on assemblage‐based palaeoenvironmental reconstructions within mire sequences. The strongest climate association observed for Picea abies (r = 0.53; n = 36) was extended through the monolith beyond the 42 year period of ‘annual’ sampling and the response successfully correlated with the Bottenviken historical instrumental record to AD 1860. Although only presenting data from a single site, and requiring wider replication, we conclude that for sites close to the ecological limits of tree species, where levels of anthropogenic/non‐climatic forcing on pollen production are low, well‐dated records of PAR may potentially provide a proxy for reconstructing past summer temperature variability. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Holocene vegetation and climate oscillations in the Qaidam Basin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau

Pollen evidence from sediment cores at Hurleg and Toson lakes in the Qaidam Basin was obtained to examine vegetation and climatic change in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The chronologies were controlled by ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs analysis and AMS ¹⁴C dating. Pollen assemblages from both lakes are dominated by Chenopodiaceae (∼ 40%), Artemisia (∼ 30-35%) and Poaceae (∼ 20-25%), with continued occurrence but low abundance of Nitraria, Ephedra, and Cyperaceae. Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae (A/C) pollen ratios from two lakes show coherent large oscillations at centennial timescale during the last 1000 yr. A/C ratios were high around AD 1170, 1270, 1450, 1700 and 1920, suggesting that the vegetation was more “steppe-like” under a relatively moist climate than that during the intervening periods. Wet-dry climate shifts at the two lakes (2800 m asl) are in opposite phases to precipitation changes derived from tree-ring records in the surrounding mountains (> 3700 m asl) and to pollen and snow accumulation records from Dunde ice core (5300 m asl), showing that a dry climate in the basin corresponds with a wet interval in the mountains, especially around AD 1600. This contrasting pattern implies that topography might have played an important role in mediating moisture changes at regional scale in this topographically complex region.     

An assessment and comparison of 230Th and AMS 14C ages for lacustrine sediments from Qarhan Salt Lake area in arid western China

The age framework of Qarhan Salt Lake in arid western China is still controversial due in part to (1) age discrepancy between conventional ¹⁴C and ²³⁰Th dating results, and (2) no AMS ¹⁴C ages of organic carbon from drilling cores in Qarhan Salt Lake were reported until now. In order to discuss these chronological problems, upper 54.50 m lacustrine sediments from a drilling core (ISL1A) recovered from Qarhan Salt Lake were dated based on ²³⁰Th and AMS ¹⁴C dating techniques. Results show that (1) AMS ¹⁴C ages of total organic carbon (TOC) from 4.65 to 30.29 m are almost in stratigraphic order and consistent with ²³⁰Th ages of halite in the corresponding layers; (2) AMS ¹⁴C ages of TOC from 30.29 to 54.50 m are younger with increasing depth. This phenomenon was also found in Shell Bar in the study area, suggesting that AMS ¹⁴C ages from upper 30.29 m are more reliable while those from lower 24.21 m in ISL1A may be underestimated; (3) ²³⁰Th ages of halite from lower 24 m lacustrine sediments are obviously older than AMS ¹⁴C ages of TOC in the corresponding layers, which results into different age framework of salt lake sediments in Qarhan Salt Lake; (4) if extrapolating these reliable AMS ¹⁴C ages in ISL1A, similar age framework with ²³⁰Th ages in this core confirms that ²³⁰Th ages are much close to the true ages of these sediments, which suggests that the forming timing of the bottom salt layer is ~50 ka.     

基于孢粉数据的珠江三角洲QZK6孔全新世气候定量重建

依据珠江三角洲QZK6钻孔孢粉组合特征及AMS14C测年结果,基于CONISS软件对剖面孢粉组合进行分带分析,其结果分为A、B、C和D四个孢粉带。根据10981a cal BP以来的孢粉组合特点,结合东亚孢粉数据库中位于广东的122个天然植被下的表层土壤样点的孢粉组成特征,利用软件Polygon 1.5定量重建了QZK6孔的全新世古气候参数。结果显示,全新世气候基本以暖湿为主,总体趋势为凉干—热湿—温凉;D带(10981~8500a cal BP)年均温度为21.7~22.1°C,年降水量1778~1888mm,年均温度和年降水量均比较高;C带(8500~8105a cal BP)年均温度为21.9~22.3°C,年降水量为1845~1929mm,达到各带中最高值;B带(8105~4343a cal BP)年均温度和年降水量开始降低,年均温度为20.8~21.7°C,年降水量为1595~1806mm。人类活动从B带开始增强(在A带达到最强);A带(4343a cal BP至今)年均温度为20.3~21.5°C,年降水量为1587~1765 mm,为各带中年均温度最低、年降水量最少的阶段。     

A Middle Weichselian interstadial lake deposit on Sejerø, Denmark: macrofossil studies and dating

Studies of lake sediments on Sejerø in southern Kattegat indicate a treeless arctic environment with the dwarf shrub Salix polaris, herbs and wetland mosses. The mean July temperature was around 8 to 10°C. An AMS radiocarbon age determination of a Salix twig yielded an age of around 36 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, which is in accordance with previous conventional dating of bulk sediment samples. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dating megafaunal extinction on the Pleistocene Darling Downs,eastern Australia: the promise and pitfalls of dating as a test of extinction hypotheses

A key to understanding Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction dynamics is knowledge of megafaunal ecological response(s) to long-term environmental perturbations. Strategically, that requires targeting fossil deposits that accumulated during glacial and interglacial intervals both before and after human arrival, with subsequent palaeoecological models underpinned by robust and reliable chronologies. Late Pleistocene vertebrate fossil localities from the Darling Downs, eastern Australia, provide stratigraphically-intact, abundant megafaunal sequences, which allows for testing of anthropogenic versus climate change megafauna extinction hypotheses. Each stratigraphic unit at site QML796, Kings Creek Catchment, was previously shown to have had similar sampling potential, and the basal units contain both small-sized taxa (e.g., land snails, frogs, bandicoots, rodents) and megafauna. Importantly, sequential faunal horizons show stepwise decrease in taxonomic diversity with the loss of some, but not all, megafauna in the geographically-small palaeocatchment. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of our intensive, multidisciplinary dating study of the deposits (>40 dates). Dating by means of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C (targeting bone, freshwater molluscs, and charcoal) and thermal ionisation mass spectrometry U/Th (targeting teeth and freshwater molluscs) do not agree with each other and, in the case of AMS ¹⁴C dating, lack internal consistency. Scanning electron microscopy and rare earth element analyses demonstrate that the dated molluscs are diagenetically altered and contain aragonite cements that incorporated secondary young C, suggesting that such dates should be regarded as minimum ages. AMS ¹⁴C dated charcoals provide ages that occur out of stratigraphic order, and cluster in the upper chronological limits of the technique (～40–48 ka). Again, we suggest that such results should be regarded as suspicious and only minimum ages. Subsequent OSL and U/Th (teeth) dating provide complimentary results and demonstrate that the faunal sequences actually span ～120–83 ka, thus occurring beyond the AMS ¹⁴C dating window. Importantly, the dates suggest that the local decline in biological diversity was initiated ～75,000 years before the colonisation of humans on the continent. Collectively, the data are most parsimoniously consistent with a pre-human climate change model for local habitat change and megafauna extinction, but not with a nearly simultaneous extinction of megafauna as required by the human-induced blitzkrieg extinction hypothesis. This study demonstrates the problems inherent in dating deposits that lie near the chronological limits of the radiocarbon dating technique, and highlights the need to cross-check previously-dated archaeological and megafauna deposits within the timeframe of earliest human colonisation and latest megafaunal survival.     

The use of ‘bomb spike’ calibration and high-precision AMS C analyses to date salt-marsh sediments deposited during the past three centuries

A combination of ‘bomb spike’ calibration and conventional calibration of AMS ¹⁴C dating has been used to determine a detailed age-depth model for a 1-m sediment section collected from a salt marsh in Poole Harbour, southern England. These data were compared with the chronology obtained from ²¹⁰Pb analysis and ¹³⁷Cs age markers. We report post bomb values of over 1.46 F¹⁴C (> 146% modern ¹⁴C), and both the rising and falling limbs of the atmospheric ‘bomb spike’ are identified. Five pre-bomb samples were analysed using multi-target high-precision 2‰ AMS analysis, and after the replicates were combined the one-sigma uncertainty was as low as ± 9 ¹⁴C yr on some ages. These data, and an additional three normal-precision pre-bomb ¹⁴C samples, were calibrated using CALIB 5.0 and the chronology constrained using the ‘prior knowledge’ of independent age markers obtained from the analysis of pollen and spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCPs). No agreement was found between the ¹⁴C ‘bomb spike’ dates and the CRS ²¹⁰Pb chronology modelled for this sequence. In addition, poor agreement was found between the signal of the 1960s weapons test fallout indicated by the ¹⁴C ‘bomb spike’ dates and the timing suggested by the ¹³⁷Cs data. This disagreement is attributed to the influence of the local discharge of ¹³⁷Cs from the former UKAEA site at Winfrith. We use our new chronology to confirm the existence of an acceleration in sedimentation rates in Poole Harbour during the last 100 yr previously reported for this site by Long et al. (Long, A.J., Scaife, R.G., Edwards, R.J. 1999. Pine Pollen in intertidal sediments from Poole Harbour, UK; implications for late-Holocene sediment accretion rates and sea-level rise. Quaternary International, 55, 3–16.), and conclude that ‘bomb spike’ ¹⁴C calibration dating may offer a more robust alternative to the use of ²¹⁰Pb chronologies for dating sediment deposition in salt-marsh environments. In addition, we demonstrate how the use of high-precision AMS analysis has the potential for reducing some of the uncertainties involved in the high-resolution dating of recent salt-marsh sediments.     

AMS14C法在地学中应用的发展近况

本文介绍了国外利用AMS¹⁴C法研究极冰、海水中溶解的碳、大气中含碳,深海沉积含碳物等的最新进展和成果。这些成果表明,由于AMS¹⁴C法测定需要的样品量仅是常规测定用量的千分之一,因而为在地学领域中的应用开辟了广阔的前景。我国的AMS¹⁴C方法研究已经起步,新方法的建成和使用必将推动有关学科的进一步发展。