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A New 14C Calibration Data Set for the Last Deglaciation Based on Marine Varves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Konrad A. Hughen
Affiliation:
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Jonathan T. Overpeck
Affiliation:
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA
Scott J. Lehman
Affiliation:
INSTAAR and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Michaele Kashgarian
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA
John R. Southon
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA
Larry C. Peterson
Affiliation:
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
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Abstract

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Varved sediments of the tropical Cariaco Basin provide a new 14C calibration data set for the period of deglaciation (10,000 to 14,500 years before present: 10–14.5 cal ka bp). Independent evaluations of the Cariaco Basin calendar and 14C chronologies were based on the agreement of varve ages with the GISP2 ice core layer chronology for similar high-resolution paleoclimate records, in addition to 14C age agreement with terrestrial 14C dates, even during large climatic changes. These assessments indicate that the Cariaco Basin 14C reservoir age remained stable throughout the Younger Dryas and late Allerød climatic events and that the varve and 14C chronologies provide an accurate alternative to existing calibrations based on coral U/Th dates. The Cariaco Basin calibration generally agrees with coral-derived calibrations but is more continuous and resolves century-scale details of 14C change not seen in the coral records. 14C plateaus can be identified at 9.6, 11.4, and 11.7 14C ka bp, in addition to a large, sloping “plateau” during the Younger Dryas (∼10 to 11 14C ka bp). Accounting for features such as these is crucial to determining the relative timing and rates of change during abrupt global climate changes of the last deglaciation.

Type
Part 1: Methods
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

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