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Dating Paleosol and Animal Remains in Loess Deposits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

H C Zhang ,
B Li ,
M S Yang ,
G L Lei ,
H Ding ,
Jie Niu ,
H F Fan ,
W X Zhang  and
F Q Chang
H C Zhang*
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
B Li
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
M S Yang
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
G L Lei
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
H Ding
Affiliation:
College of Graduate Studies, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100049, China
Jie Niu
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
H F Fan
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
W X Zhang
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
F Q Chang
Affiliation:
National Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems, MOE; College of Earth Sciences and Environments, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Also: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing 210008, China
*
Corresponding author. Email: zhanghc@niglas.ac.cn.
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Abstract

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Accurate and reliable dating of paleosols, animal remains, and artifacts is of crucial importance in reconstructing environmental change and understanding the interrelationship between human activities and natural environments. Dating different materials in the same sample can help resolve problems such as soil carbon sources and carbon storage state. Conventional radiocarbon dating of soil (inorganic and organic matter) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of animal remains (fossil bones and teeth) result in different ages for materials from the same sample position in a typical loess section at Xinglong Mountain, Yuzhong County, Gansu Province in NW China. Inorganic matter is ∼3400 yr older than organic matter, 4175 ± 175 cal BP to 3808 ± 90 cal BP. A 1610-yr difference between the 14C ages of fossils (animal bones and teeth) and soil organic matter suggests that a depositional hiatus exists in the studied profile. The varying 14C ages of fossils and soil organic and inorganic matter have important implications for paleoclimate reconstructions from loess sections. It is critical to consider the meaning of the variable 14C ages from different material components from the same sample position in terms of soil organic and inorganic carbon storage, vegetation history reconstruction, archaeology, and the study of ancient civilizations.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , 2006 , pp. 109 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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