Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T13:08:42.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Radiocarbon AMS Dating of Pollen Extracted from Peat Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

T. A. Brown
Affiliation:
Nuclear Physics Laboratory GL-10 and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA Geophysics Program AK-50, University of Washington
G. W. Farwell
Affiliation:
Nuclear Physics Laboratory GL-10 and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA
P. M. Grootes
Affiliation:
Nuclear Physics Laboratory GL-10 and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA Quaternary Isotope Laboratory AK-60 and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington
F. H. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Nuclear Physics Laboratory GL-10 and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 USA We regret the passing of our friend and colleague, Professor Emeritus Fred H. Schmidt, who died on January 17, 1991.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We present 14C AMS measurements and discuss the extraction procedure used on pollen extracted from peat samples. Microscopic examination of the extracts shows that the procedure is sufficient to remove most non-pollen materials and results in an extract that is composed predominantly of pollen. The 14C dates that we obtained for pollen extracts from peat samples associated with the Mazama Ash layer are consistent with the range of bulk-sample dates obtained by others in previous studies. The limited measurement time and resulting precision (± 100 yr) of these initial measurements restrict our ability to draw firm conclusions from a comparison of the pollen extract dates with previous bulk-sample dates. We intend to adjust our procedure to improve the rejection of non-pollen materials and to increase the precision of our 14C measurements on pollen extracts from peat samples in future studies.

Type
II. Applied Isotope Geochemistry
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Andrée, M., Oeschger, H., Siegenthaler, U., Riesen, T., Moell, M., Ammann, B. and Tobolski, K. 1986 14C dating of plant macrofossils in lake sediment. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 411416.Google Scholar
Bacon, C. R. 1983 Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, USA. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 18: 57115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balsley, D. R., Farwell, G. W., Grootes, P. M. and Schmidt, F. H. 1987 Ion source sample preparation techniques for carbon-14 AMS measurements. In Gove, H. E., Litherland, A. E. and Elmore, D., eds., Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on AMS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods B29: 3740.Google Scholar
Brown, T. A., Farwell, G. W., Grootes, P. M., Quay, P. D. and Schmidt, F. H. 1990 14C AMS at the University of Washington: Measurements in a shared facility at the 1% level on 0.4 mg samples. In Yiou, F. and Raisbeck, G. M., eds., Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on AMS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods B52: 351356.Google Scholar
Brown, T. A., Nelson, D. E., Mathewes, R. W., Vogel, J. S. and Southon, J. R. 1989 Radiocarbon dating of pollen by accelerator mass spectrometry. Quaternary Research 32: 205212.Google Scholar
Brubaker, L. B., Garfinkel, H. L. and Edwards, M. E. 1983 A Late Wisconsin and Holocene vegetation history from the central Brooks Range: Implications for Alaskan palaeoecology. Quaternary Research 20: 194214.Google Scholar
Clague, J. J. 1980 Late Quaternary geology and geochronology of British Columbia. Part 1: Radiocarbon dates. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clayton, L. and Moran, S. R. 1982 Chronology of Late Wisconsinan glaciation in middle North America. Quaternary Science Reviews 1: 5582.Google Scholar
Faegri, K. and Iversen, J. 1989 Textbook of Pollen Analysis, 4th edition. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons: 328 p.Google Scholar
Fowler, A. J., Gillespie, R. and Hedges, R. E. M. 1986 Radiocarbon dating of sediments. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 441450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fryxell, R. 1965 Mazama and Glacier Peak volcanic ash layers: Relative ages. Science 147: 12881290.Google Scholar
Gillespie, R. 1991 Charcoal dating-Oxidation is necessary for complete humic removal. Abstract. Radiocarbon 33(2): 199.Google Scholar
MacDonald, G. M., Beukens, R. P., Kieser, W. E. and Vitt, D. H. 1987 Comparative radiocarbon dating terrestrial plant macrofossils and aquatic moss from the “ice-free corridor” of western Canada. Geology 15: 837840.Google Scholar
Peteet, D. M., Vogel, J. S., Nelson, D. E., Southon, J. R., Nickmann, R. J. and Heusser, L. E. 1990 Younger Dryas climatic reversal in northeastern USA? AMS ages for an old problem. Quaternary Research 33: 219230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M., Champion, D. E. and Davis, J. O. 1983 Holocene volcanism in the conterminous United States and the role of silicic volcanic ash layers in correlation of latest-Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. In Wright, H. E. Jr, ed., Late Quaternary Environments on the United States, Vol. 2. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press: 5277.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. A. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C Data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutherland, D. G. 1980 Problems of radiocarbon dating deposits from newly deglaciated terrain: Examples from the Scottish Late Glacial. In Lowe, J. J., Gray, J. M. and Robinson, J. E., eds., Studies in the Late-Glacial of North-West Europe. Oxford, Pergamon Press: 139149.Google Scholar
Tornqvist, T. E., de Jong, A. F. M., Oosterbaan, W. A. and van der Borg, K. 1992 Accurate dating of organic deposits by AMS 14C measurements of macrofossils. Radiocarbon, this issue.Google Scholar
Vogel, J. S., Briskin, M., Nelson, D. E. and Southon, J. R. 1989 Ultra-small carbon samples and the dating of sediments. In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 601609.Google Scholar
Vogel, J. S., Southon, J. R., Nelson, D. E. and Brown, T. A. 1984 Performance of catalytically condensed carbon for use in accelerator mass spectrometry. In Wölfli, W., Polach, H. A. and Andersen, H. H., eds., Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on AMS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods B5: 289293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. B. 1989 Examination of freshwater peat pretreatment methodology. In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 269275.Google Scholar