Cumulative probability functions and their role in evaluating the chronology of geomorphological events during the Holocene

Cumulative probability functions (CPFs) for large numbers of radiocarbon age determinations are increasingly being used by scientists as a methodology to discern environmental histories. While the recent compilation of regional databases of the radiocarbon dating control for fluvial sediment sequences has been beneficial for identifying gaps in knowledge and stimulating new research, there are a number of problems that critically undermine the use of these CPFs as sensitive hydroclimatic proxies. (i) The CPF method is underpinned by the assumption that each radiocarbon measurement is a true age estimate for a point in time, whereas each measured age in fact forms a scatter around the true age of the sample; (ii) calibration of radiocarbon ages is responsible for much of the structure in CPFs and compounds the problem of scatter and smears the chronological control; (iii) the databases incorporate multiple types of environmental changes differing chronological relationships between the ¹⁴C measurements and the dated events, with pre‐dating, dating or post‐dating chronological control each displaying variable length temporal lags all mixed together in the same analysis; and (iv) the radiocarbon ages from individual case studies need to be more robustly tested before being incorporated into regional databases. All these factors negate the value of CPFs as sensitive proxies of environmental change, because peaks in probability for individual radiocarbon measurements are likely to be an incorrect estimate for the age of a geomorphological event and this problem is compounded by combining probabilities for multiple unrelated events. In this paper we present a critical analysis of CPFs and their interpretation before suggesting alternative approaches to analysing radiocarbon geochronologies of geomorphic events, which include: (i) Bayesian age modelling of river terrace development; (ii) developing regional databases that test specific geomorphic hypotheses; (iii) Bayesian age modelling of palaeoflood records; and (iv) analysis of sedimentation rates. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

系列^14C样品贝叶斯法日历年龄校正研究进展

系列^14C样品贝叶斯法日历年龄校正研究已成为当前^14C年代学中一个热点,系统综述了时序已知、时序间隔已知和时序间隔近似已知系列^14C样品日历年龄校正研究的历史、原理、计算方法及其在树轮、泥炭、地层等领域上应用进展,对影响系列样品贝叶斯分析获得^14C日历年龄区间的主要因素以及未来发展方向作了归纳。大量事例研究结果表明系列样品贝叶斯分析的实质在于贝叶斯方法从统计的角度灵活地把地层信息以概率方式加入到^14C日历年龄校正过程中,获得比单个^14C年代校正精度更高的日历年龄。     

系列14C样品贝叶斯法日历年龄校正研究进展

系列14C样品贝叶斯法日历年龄校正研究已成为当前14C年代学中一个热点,系统综述了时序已知、时序间隔已知和时序间隔近似已知系列14C样品日历年龄校正研究的历史、原理、计算方法及其在树轮、泥炭、地层等领域上应用进展,对影响系列样品贝叶斯分析获得14C日历年龄区间的主要因素以及未来发展方向作了归纳.大量事例研究结果表明系列样品贝叶斯分析的实质在于贝叶斯方法从统计的角度灵活地把地层信息以概率方式加入到14C日历年龄校正过程中,获得比单个14C年代校正精度更高的日历年龄.     

Dating Methods of Cold-water Corals and Their Application in Reconstructing Carbon-reservoir Ages of Intermediate and Deep Oceans

Establishing a precise chorology is a critical issue when employing cold-water coral as paleoenvironmental archives. Currently, U-Th, ¹⁴C and ²¹⁰Pb dating techniques are the most frequently used methods. The high-magnesium calcite skeleton of bamboo coral has clear growth bands, which is appropriate for ¹⁴C and ²¹⁰Pb dating methods and holds a great potential to be high-resolution archives of mid-to-deep ocean evolution. Aragonitic stony coral is appropriate for both U-Th and ¹⁴C dating methods, which is valuable in paleoceanographic research. Because the U-Th method can provide the absolute chronology of coral samples, it can further be used to calculate the ¹⁴C age of ocean carbon reservoirs. Therefore, U-Th and ¹⁴C dating results of stony coral are currently the most reliable data for exploring the evolution of ocean carbon reservoirs through the Last Glacial Maximum to the present. It has been found that the ¹⁴C ventilation ages of intermediate water masses of the equatorial Atlantic and Southern Ocean significantly decreased at the end of the Heinrich Stadial 1. This suggests a massive carbon transfer from deep oceans to the atmosphere, or the Atlantic intermediate depths were ventilated by the southern- and the northern-sourced water masses, respectively, before and after the Heinrich Stadial 1.     

Chronologies of sedimentary changes in the south Bohai Sea,China: constraints from luminescence and radiocarbon dating

The alternation of terrestrial and marine deposits is an indicator of past environmental and sea‐level changes. The age of deposition is usually dated by means of radiocarbon. However, radiocarbon dates of molluscan shells from coastal areas may be complicated by various sources of carbon, and problematic for deposits of 40–50 ka or older. Herein, we apply the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating method to date samples from terrestrial and marine/coastal sediments extracted from three cores in the south Bohai Sea, China. Multiple‐ and single‐aliquot regenerative‐dose procedures using OSL signals from fine‐silt (4–11 μm), coarse‐silt (38–63 μm) and fine‐sand (63–90 or 90–125 μm) quartz were employed to determine the equivalent dose (D _e). The results showed that: (i) OSL ages from quartz of different grain sizes and different protocols are consistent with each other; (ii) for Holocene samples, most of the radiocarbon dates agree well with OSL ages; (iii) for pre‐Holocene samples, radiocarbon dates cluster at 40–50 ¹⁴ C ka BP, whereas OSL ages are in stratigraphic order from 11 ka to 176 ka. Because of the self‐consistency of the quartz OSL ages, the stratigraphic agreement in the three cores, and the clustering of the radiocarbon dates, we suggest that the quartz OSL ages are more reliable with respect to dating the samples from the south Bohai Sea. Finally, the four marine strata identified in the south Bohai Sea are likely to have formed during the Holocene, Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 3–5, MIS 6 and probably MIS 7, respectively.     

第四纪测年的进展与问题

本文认为当前第四纪地质与环境变化的基本时间框架已经建立，而研究的进一步深入把提高测年的精确度提到了中心位置。近年来各种测年方法进步的共同特点是显著降低所需的样品用量和提高工效。这均极有利于测年精确度的提高。此外，用两种以上的技术对比测年，采集不同种类的样品对比测年，以及从样品中提取不同的化学和矿物组成分别对比测年，都是保证良好精确度的重要手段。     

Loess chronology of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in Tadjikistan

The loess/paleosol sequences of Central Asia are continuous terrestrial records of the Quaternary period and enable detailed comparison with paleoclimatic archives such as marine and ice core records in order to reconstruct regional and global paleoclimatic and paleoecological development during the past 130?000 years. Thermoluminescence (TL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating methods are applied to the extensively studied loess/paleosol sequence of the section at Darai Kalon/Chashmanigar, Tadjikistan, in order to determine a more accurate chronological framework and climatostratigraphic reconstruction for the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Luminescence dating suggests that the loess above the first pedocomplex from the top, PC1, accumulated during the last glacial period. A high accumulation rate of up to 1.20?m per 1000 years was determined for the last glacial loess, especially for the uppermost 5–8?m. PC1 formed during the last interglacial period (oxygen-isotope stage 5). The loess between PC1 and PC2 is designated to be of penultimate glacial deposition age. Infrared stimulated luminescence and TL age estimates are in agreement to 80?000 years before present (BP), indicating a long-distance transport of the aeolian dust prior to deposition. The upper numerical age-limit range is between 300?000 and 450?000 years. However, reliable dating of the loess older than 130?000 years is not possible due to age scatter between samples and an inadequate increase of paleodose with depth. This high-resolution dating study underlines the importance of the section at Darai Kalon and indicates that it is one of the most continuous loess/paleosol records of the Northern Hemisphere. The chronological results are particularly important for the reconstruction of the human evolution in Central Asia, suggesting much older age estimates than previously obtained for most of the archeological key sites associated with PC5 and PC4 in Tadjikistan.     

A dating intercomparison study on Late Stone Age coastal midden deposits,South Africa

The southern and western coastlines of South Africa have an extensive archaeological record with many sites associated with widespread eolian deposits. While much of this rich archaeological record is based on cave sites, evidence of Late Stone Age occupation is additionally preserved in the form of open‐site shell middens. We present here a comparative study of the application of amino acid racemization (AAR), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and radiocarbon analyses to three Late Stone Age (LSA) midden sites found within dunes on the southern coastline of South Africa. Preliminary geochronological analyses suggest that middens offer opportunity to fill in gaps in what is still a fragmentary archaeological record. Results show OSL and radiocarbon ages in good agreement, illustrating the potential to date not only the middens but also the surrounding dunes that constituted the dwelling sites. AAR results show increasing ratios with age and also that the application of paired shell and “whole rock” AAR can provide insights into the degree of biogenic sediment recycling at buried midden sites. However, the work also highlights that caution is required when OSL sampling sediment associated with middens which may have undergone human disturbance and that further work is required to improve the regional marine reservoir correction for radiocarbon dating in this part of South Africa. The study also illustrates that AAR will only provide useful data provided that middens have been sufficiently deeply buried to overcome fluctuations in environmental variables that affect the racemization rate and that inter‐genus comparisons should be avoided. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

青藏高原冰芯定年方法回顾及新技术展望北大核心CSCD

冰芯高分辨率高保真地记录了过去不同时间尺度气候环境变化历史,而冰芯精确定年是重建过去气候环境演化的先决条件。通过回顾青藏高原冰芯定年的常用方法,提出了目前冰芯定年仍存在的挑战和机遇。通常的冰芯定年方法包括基于冰芯季节变化信号的数年层方法、放射性标志层定年、冰川流动模型、基于其他已知时间序列的对比定年,以及放射性同位素定年。最可靠的方法是数年层的方法,但受到冰川中下部年层逐渐减薄的制约,冰川流动模型主要应用于冰芯中下部定年,但存在不确定性较大而且难以验证的难题。未来冰芯学科发展对冰芯定年提出了更高要求,随着测量技术与手段的突破,新的方法与技术开始在极地冰芯与高山冰芯定年研究中展示了广泛的应用前景。冰芯连续测量技术(如冰芯同位素连续测量技术、激光剥蚀等离子体质谱技术)大幅度提高了冰芯测量结果的时间精度,有可能把数年层的定年方法延推到冰芯底部;基于“原子阱痕量分析”(Atom Trap Trace Analysis,ATTA)的惰性气体(Kr、Kr、Ar)放射性测年技术是一项革命性的技术,由于惰性气体在大气中的稳定性与均匀性使其在不同时间尺度冰川冰的绝对定年中发挥出优势。低浓度的可溶性有机碳的14C定年也从实验室探索阶段开始转入试用阶段,而且用冰量低,有望解决冰芯中碳含量低,定年困难的窘迫状况。此外,人类活动影响之前处于自然背景下的冰芯3H低本底测量技术结合数据处理方法,有望恢复过去100~200年与太阳活动周期相关的信号,将补充放射性标志层只有近代结果的不足。这些新的技术与方法在冰芯定年中的应用有望进一步推动中低纬度高山冰芯研究。     

青藏高原冰芯定年方法回顾及新技术展望

冰芯高分辨率高保真地记录了过去不同时间尺度气候环境变化历史,而冰芯精确定年是重建过去气候环境演化的先决条件。通过回顾青藏高原冰芯定年的常用方法,提出了目前冰芯定年仍存在的挑战和机遇。通常的冰芯定年方法包括基于冰芯季节变化信号的数年层方法、放射性标志层定年、冰川流动模型、基于其他已知时间序列的对比定年,以及放射性同位素定年。最可靠的方法是数年层的方法,但受到冰川中下部年层逐渐减薄的制约,冰川流动模型主要应用于冰芯中下部定年,但存在不确定性较大而且难以验证的难题。未来冰芯学科发展对冰芯定年提出了更高要求,随着测量技术与手段的突破,新的方法与技术开始在极地冰芯与高山冰芯定年研究中展示了广泛的应用前景。冰芯连续测量技术（如冰芯同位素连续测量技术、激光剥蚀等离子体质谱技术）大幅度提高了冰芯测量结果的时间精度,有可能把数年层的定年方法延推到冰芯底部;基于“原子阱痕量分析”（Atom Trap Trace Analysis,ATTA）的惰性气体（⁸⁵Kr、⁸¹Kr、³⁹Ar）放射性测年技术是一项革命性的技术,由于惰性气体在大气中的稳定性与均匀性使其在不同时间尺度冰川冰的绝对定年中发挥出优势。低浓度的可溶性有机碳的¹⁴C定年也从实验室探索阶段开始转入试用阶段,而且用冰量低,有望解决冰芯中碳含量低,定年困难的窘迫状况。此外,人类活动影响之前处于自然背景下的冰芯³H低本底测量技术结合数据处理方法,有望恢复过去100~200年与太阳活动周期相关的信号,将补充放射性标志层只有近代结果的不足。这些新的技术与方法在冰芯定年中的应用有望进一步推动中低纬度高山冰芯研究。     

14C测年与示踪用于研究四万年来的全球变化

¹⁴C测年方法由于其假设前提经受过严格的检验,测年精确度极高,在全新世范围可达±50年。因此,在建立晚更新世以来的气候年表、各种地层年表、史前考古年表以及研究晚更新世以来的地壳运动、地貌及植被变化等方面起了重要作用。作为示踪剂¹⁴C与树木年轮相配合,揭示了近万年来地球磁场,太阳活动与全球气候变化的变化规律,以及它们间的相关关系。     

南海古海啸重建与海啸沉积研究进展

中国东海、南海等近海临近琉球海沟、马尼拉海沟等俯冲带,地震频发.过去的海啸研究主要关注历史文献分析、海啸数值模拟等,据此评估中国近岸海啸灾害的历史和风险.历史时期是否引发了海啸,特别是具有特大致灾风险的大海啸记录,目前还不明确.近年来,本课题组通过对海岛、海洋沉积和海岸带及其岛屿的沉积过程、海啸遗迹和历史记录研究,阐述...     

Radiocarbon dating of quaternary loess deposits,Banks Peninsula,Canterbury, New Zealand

Quaternary loess deposits containing charcoal and in situ organic matter constituents from Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, were subjected to various physical and chemical treatments before radiocarbon assay. A stepwide procedure was used in which each component was radiocarbon dated before and after the treatments were applied. The criterion adopted for judging the effectiveness of a treatment is an increase in the radiocarbon age of loess layer. On this basis the oldest and therefore the most reliable date was obtained from the intra-loess charcoal and its humic acid extract. By comparison, the radiocarbon ages of organic matter constituents of the whole or partitioned loess were much younger, and are considered to represent only average ages for the particular layers concerned. No advantage was gained by dating the carbon-enriched clay-humus fraction as opposed to whole loess samples. There is an apparent conflict between our dates and current interpretation of loess stratigraphy and chronology in the South Island of New Zealand, which requires further investigation. This uncertainty apart, the upper layers of multiple loess deposits are clearly much older than earlier reports indicate, and it follows that the correlation of these deposits with late-glacial events both within and beyond New Zealand is even more tenuous and unreliable than previously thought to be the case.     

Abandoned shorelines and the late quaternary history of lake George,New South Wales

A study of the geomorphology, surficial sediments, and soils of the Lake George Basin, in particular those at its northwestern end, led to the recognition of a set of abandoned shoreline features lying at a range of altitudes up to 37 m above lake bottom. The altitudes and soils were used to establish a relative age sequence of abandoned shorelines which was related to an absolute time‐scale by radiocarbon dating.     

Exploring the past through lynchet landscapes in the Vosges Mountains and the Lorraine Plateau (France)

Lynchets are ridges formed by erosion and sediment accumulation downstream of agricultural plots and offer valuable insights into past agricultural activity. These microtopographies cover vast areas and serve as indicators of historical changes in land use. As a result, their ubiquity across Europe makes them particularly interesting. In this study, we propose a geoarchaeological approach to analyze six lynchets, four in the Vosges Mountains and two on the Lorraine Plateau (France). The lynchets can be considered soil archives with no stratigraphic organization or chronological sequence from bottom to top, making it difficult to determine the age of the lynchets and identify changes in land use over time. To this end, we propose the analysis of historical and geo-historical archives combined with the “pedosedimentary” archives of lynchets through charcoal identification and dating combined with near-infrared spectroscopy to determine the age, vegetation, and past land use changes associated with lynchet landscapes. By combining these multiple data sources, we are better able to show the chronological development of these ancient agricultural systems and uncover valuable information on landscape history. Charcoal dating suggests a higher frequency of fires from the Middle Ages. The dating aligns with the regional dynamics of anthropogenic fires, indicating a potential use of fire for cultural purposes. We also demonstrate the difficulty of extrapolating the dating of a lynchet to the entire lynchet system. Our results highlight the difficulties of interpreting the formation and dating of lynchets and the lynchet system on the sole basis of charcoal analysis. However, we highlight the value of applying pedoanthracology to lynchets to determine the dynamics of land use change in former fields.     

Holocene chronostratigraphy of northeastern Baffin Bay based on radiocarbon and palaeomagnetic data

The northeastern Baffin Bay continental margin, which experiences high sediment accumulation rates, is an excellent location to study Holocene sedimentary variations. However, it is often difficult to obtain reliable chronologies of the sediment archives using traditional methods (δ¹⁸O and radiocarbon) due to specific oceanographic conditions (e.g. corrosive bottom waters). Here we propose a chronostratigraphy of three cores collected on the northwestern Greenland margin (AMD14‐204, AMD14‐210 and AMD14‐Kane2B) based on a combination of radiocarbon dating and palaeomagnetic records. Geophysical properties of discrete samples were used to verify the reliability of the palaeomagnetic records. Palaeomagnetic analyses indicate a strong and stable natural remanent magnetization carried by low coercivity ferrimagnetic minerals (magnetite) in the pseudo‐single domain grain size range. Correlation of the full palaeomagnetic vector (inclination, declination, and relative palaeointensity) was used to establish a reliable chronostratigraphical framework for two of the cores (AMD14‐204 and AMD14‐210) and to propose an original palaeomagnetic record for the previously ¹⁴C‐dated core AMD14‐Kane2B that covers most of the Holocene. Overall, this new chronostratigraphy allowed improvement of the timing of the main palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred in this area during the Holocene.     

第四纪骨化石样品的多方法对比测年

本文报道作者用¹⁴C、铀系和ESR等多种测年技术对比测定第四纪骨化石样品年龄结果,对比分析骨化石中各含碳组分¹⁴C年龄的异同。在此基础上讨论诸测年方法的可靠性和测年精度,分析哪种含碳组分最能代表骨质样品的真实年龄。对晚于40 000aB.P.的骨质样品,作者倾向于样品中氨基酸的¹⁴C测年,而对更老的样品,铀系法应优先被选用。本文还对北京周口店山顶洞遗址骨化石样品中不同含碳组分的¹⁴C测年结果做了讨论。     

The evolution of Paleoindian geochronology and typology on the Great Plains

The Great Plains contain many of the best‐known Paleoindian sites in North America, and a number of these localities were key to determining the chronology of Paleoindian occupations in the years before, during, and since the development of radiocarbon and other chronometric dating methods. Initial attempts at dating were based on correlation with extinct fauna, the “geologic‐climatic” dating method, and stratigraphic relationships of artifacts within sites. By the time radiocarbon dating was developed (1950), the basic Paleoindian sequence (oldest to youngest) was: Clovis‐Folsom‐unfluted lanceolates (such as Plainview, Eden, and Scottsbluff). Initial applications of radiocarbon dating in the 1950s did little to further resolve age relationships. In the 1960s, however, largely through the efforts of C. V. Haynes, a numerical geochronology of Paleoindian occupations on the Great Plains began to emerge On the Southern Great Plains the radiocarbon‐dated artifact chronology is: Clovis (11,600–11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom and Midland (10,900–10,100 yr B.P.); Plainview, Milnesand, and Lubbock (10,200–9800 yr B.P.); Firstview (9400–8200 yr B.P.); St. Mary's Hall, Golondrina, and Texas Angostura (9200–8000 yr B.P.). The chronology for the Northern Great Plains is: Clovis (11,200–10,900 yr B.P.); Goshen (ca. 11,000 yr B.P.); Folsom (10,900–10,200 yr B.P.); Agate Basin (10,500–10,000 yr B.P.); Hell Gap (10,500–9500 yr B.P.); Alberta, Alberta‐Cody (10,200–9400 yr B.P.); Cody (Eden‐Scottsbluff) (9400–8800 yr B.P.); Angostura, Jimmy Allen, Frederick, and other parallel‐oblique types (9400–7800 yr B.P.). Fifty years after the development of radiocarbon dating, the basic typological sequence has not changed significantly except for the realization that there probably was significant temporal overlap of some point types, and that the old unilinear sequence does not account for all the known typological variation. The chronology has been continually refined with the determination of hundreds of radiocarbon ages in recent decades. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Vertebrate burrows in late Pleistocene paleosols at Korean Palaeolithic sites and their significance as a stratigraphic marker

A vertebrate burrow-bearing layer of late Pleistocene age is commonly found at many Paleolithic archaeological sites in Korea. The burrows are straight to slightly curved in horizontal (plan) view and gently inclined in lateral (sectional) view. They are interpreted as having been produced by rodent-like mammals based on their size and architecture. The significance of such burrow-bearing layers as a characteristic stratigraphic marker unit is demonstrated by high burrow abundance, consistent stratigraphic position, lack of stratigraphic recurrence at these sites, and widespread geographic extent. Three dating methods, tephrochronology, radiocarbon, and OSL dating, were used to infer the age of these burrow-bearing layers. The dating results indicate that they were formed between ca. 40,000 and 25,000 yr (MIS 3−2), and this suggests that this layer can be used as a stratigraphic time-marker in late Pleistocene paleosol sequences for this region.     

Results of Radiocarbon Dating of Holocene Deposits from the Sea of Azov

New data on the absolute age of Quaternary bottom deposits from the Sea of Azov based on the results of radiocarbon analysis (¹⁴C) are presented. Overall, 67 radiocarbon dating of bottom deposits of New and Ancient Azov Ages were obtained. The thickness of sediments of the New Azov Age and their distribution over different areas of the Sea of Azov was determined during the study; the results obtained were compared with the reference data available. An integrated approach to the study of deposits, based on the combination of the biostratigraphy methods and the results of absolute age dating, was applied.