Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T20:57:29.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Calibration and Comparison to 50 Kyr BP with Paired 14C and 230Th Dating of Corals from Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

K B Cutler ,
S C Gray ,
G S Burr ,
R L Edwards ,
F W Taylor ,
G Cabioch ,
J W Beck ,
H Cheng  and
J Moore
K B Cutler*
Affiliation:
Minnesota Isotope Laboratory, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
S C Gray
Affiliation:
Marine and Environmental Studies, University of San Diego, Alcala Park, San Diego, California 92110, USA
G S Burr
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
R L Edwards
Affiliation:
Minnesota Isotope Laboratory, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
F W Taylor
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas, 4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Bld. 600, Austin, Texas 78759-8500, USA.
G Cabioch
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), BPA5, Nouméa, New Caledonia
J W Beck
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
H Cheng
Affiliation:
Minnesota Isotope Laboratory, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, 310 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
J Moore
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
*
Corresponding author. Email: drscutler@earthlink.net.
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 calibrated portions of the radiocarbon time scale with combined 230Th, 231Pa, 14C measurements of corals collected from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu and the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. The new data map 14C variations ranging from the current limit of the tree-ring calibration [11,900 calendar years before present (cal BP), Kromer and Spurk 1998, now updated to 12,400 cal B P, see Kromer et al., this issue], to the 14C-dating limit of 50,000 cal BP, with detailed structure between 14 to 16 cal kyr BP and 19 to 24 cal kyr BP. Samples older than 25,000 cal BP were analyzed with high-precision 231Pa dating methods (Pickett et al. 1994; Edwards et al. 1997) as a rigorous second check on the accuracy of the 230Th ages. These are the first coral calibration data to receive this additional check, adding confidence to the age data forming the older portion of the calibration. Our results, in general, show that the offset between calibrated and 14C ages generally increases with age until about 28,000 cal BP, when the recorded 14C age is nearly 6800 yr too young. The gap between ages before this time is less; at 50,000 cal BP, the recorded 14C age is 4600 yr too young. Two major 14C-age plateaus result from a 130 drop in Δ14C between 14–15 cal kyr BP and a 700 drop in Δ14C between 22–25 cal kyr BP. In addition, a large atmospheric Δ14C excursion to values over 1000 occurs at 28 cal kyr BP. Between 20 and 10 cal kyr BP, a component of atmospheric Δ14C anti-correlates with Greenland ice δ18O, indicating that some portion of the variability in atmospheric Δ14C is related to climate change, most likely through climate-related changes in the carbon cycle. Furthermore, the 28-kyr excursion occurs at about the time of significant climate shifts. Taken as a whole, our data indicate that in addition to a terrestrial magnetic field, factors related to climate change have affected the history of atmospheric 14C.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 46 , Issue 3: IntCal04: Calibration Issue, Guest Editor: PAULA J REIMER , 2004 , pp. 1127 - 1160
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Adkins, J, Boyle, EA. 1997. Changing atmospheric Δ14C and the record of deep-water paleoventilation ages. Paleoceanography 12:337–44.Google Scholar
Alley, RB, Finkel, RC, Nishiizumi, K, Anandakrishnan, S, Shuman, CA, Mershon, GR, Zielinski, GA, Mayewski, PA. 1995. Changes in continental and sea-salt atmospheric loadings in central Greenland during the most recent deglaciation: model-based estimates. Journal of Glaciology 41:503–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andree, M, Oeschger, H, Broecker, W, Beavan, N, Klas, M, Bonani, G, Hofmann, HJ, Suter, M, Wölfli, W, Peng, T-H. 1986. Limits on the ventilation rate for the deep ocean over the last 12,000 years. Climate Dynamics 1:53–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E, Hamelin, B, Fairbanks, RG, Zindler, A. 1990. Calibration of the 14C time scale over the past 30,000 years using mass spectrometric U-Th ages from Barbados corals. Nature 345:405–10.Google Scholar
Bard, E, Arnold, M, Fairbanks, RG, Hamelin, B. 1993. 230Th-234U and 14C ages obtained by mass spectrometry on corals. Radiocarbon 35(1):191–9.Google Scholar
Bard, E, Hamelin, B, Arnold, M, Montaggioni, L, Cabioch, G, Faure, G, Rougerie, F. 1996. Deglacial sea-level record from Tahiti corals and the timing of global meltwater discharge. Nature 382:241–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E, Arnold, M, Hamelin, B, Tisnerat-Laborde, N, Cabioch, G. 1998. Radiocarbon calibration by means of mass spectrometric 230Th/234U and 14C ages of corals: an updated database including samples from Barbados, Mururoa and Tahiti. Radiocarbon 40(3):1085–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E, Rostek, F, Ménot-Combes, G. 2004. Radiocarbon calibration beyond 20,000 14C yr BP by means of planktonic foraminifera of the Iberian Margin. Quaternary Research 61:204–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, JW, Richards, DA, Edwards, RL, Silverman, BW, Smart, PL, Donahue, DJ, Hererra-Osterheld, S, Burr, GS, Calsoyas, L, Jull, AJT, Biddulph, D. 2001. Extremely large variations of atmospheric 14C concentration during the last glacial period. Science 292:2453–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bond, G, Heinrich, H, Broecker, W, Labeyrie, L, McManus, J, Andrews, J, Huon, S, Jantschik, R, Clasen, S, Simet, C, Tedesco, K, Klas, M, Bonani, G, Ivy, S. 1992. Evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the North Atlantic Ocean during the last glacial period. Nature 360:245–9.Google Scholar
Bond, G, Broecker, W, Johnsen, S, McManus, J, Labeyrie, L, Jouzel, J, Bonani, G. 1993. Correlations between climate records from North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice. Nature 365:143–7.Google Scholar
Burr, GS, Edwards, RL, Donahue, DJ, Druffel, ERM, Taylor, FW. 1992. Mass spectrometric 14C and U-Th measurements in coral. Radiocarbon 34(3):611–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burr, GS, Beck, JW, Taylor, FW, Recy, J, Edwards, RL, Cabioch, G, Correge, T, Donahue, DJ, O'Malley, JM. 1998. A high-resolution radiocarbon calibration between 11,700 and 12,400 calendar years BP derived from 230Th ages of corals from Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu. Radiocarbon 40(3):1093–105.Google Scholar
Chappell, J, Polach, H. 1991. Post-glacial sea-level rise from a coral record at Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Nature 349:147–9.Google Scholar
Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Hoff, J, Gallup, CD, Richards, DA, Asmerom, Y. 2000. The half-lives of uranium-234 and thorium-230. Chemical Geology 169:17–33.Google Scholar
Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Murrell, MT, Benjamin, TM. Uranium-thorium-protactinium dating systematics. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 62:3457–62.Google Scholar
Cutler, KB, Edwards, RL, Taylor, FW, Cheng, H, Adkins, J, Gallup, CD, Cutler, PM, Burr, GS, Chappell, J, Bloom, AL. 2003. Rapid sea-level fall and deep ocean temperature change since the last interglacial period. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 206:253–71.Google Scholar
Edwards, RL, Chen, JH, Wasserburg, GJ. 1987a. 238U-234U-230Th-232Th systematics and the precise measurement of time over the past 500,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 81:175–92.Google Scholar
Edwards, RL, Chen, JH, Ku, TL, Wasserburg, GJ. 1987b. Precise timing of the last interglacial period from mass spectrometric determination of 230Th in corals. Science 236:1547–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, RL. 1988. High Precision 230Thorium Ages of Corals and the Timing of Sea Level Fluctuations in the Late Quaternary. Pasadena: California Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Edwards, RL, Beck, JW, Burr, GS, Donahue, DJ, Chappell, JMA, Bloom, AL, Druffel, ERM, Taylor, FW. 1993. A large drop in atmospheric 14C/12C and reduced melting in the Younger Dryas, documented with 230Th ages of corals. Science 260:962–8.Google Scholar
Edwards, RL, Cheng, H, Murrell, MT, Goldstein, SJ. 1997. Protactinium-231 dating of carbonates by thermal ionization mass spectrometry: implications for Quaternary climate change. Science 276:782–6.Google Scholar
Edwards, RL, Gallup, CD, Cheng, H. 2003. Uranium-series dating of marine and lacustrine carbonates. In: Bourdon, B, Henderson, G, Lundstrom, C, Turner, S, editors. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry v52: Uranium-Series Geochemistry, Chapter 9. Washington, DC: Mineralogical Society of America. p 363–406.Google Scholar
Esat, TM, Yokoyama, Y. 2000. Correlated uranium and sea-level fluctuations in late Quaternary oceans. Goldschmidt Conference, September 3–8, Oxford, United Kingdom. Journal of Conference Abstracts v.5(2): 387.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, RG. 1989. A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature 342:637–42.Google Scholar
Finkel, RC, Nishiizumi, J. 1997. 10Be concentration in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 Ice Core from 3 to 40 ka. Journal of Geophysical Research 102:26,699–706.Google Scholar
Galewskyr, J, Silver, EA, Gallup, CD, Edwards, RL, Potts, DC. 1996. Foredeep tectonics and carbonate platform dynamics in the Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea. Geology 24:819–22.Google Scholar
Gallup, CD, Edwards, RL, Johnson, RG. 1994. The timing of high sea levels over the past 200,000 years. Science 263:796–800.Google Scholar
Genty, D, Massault, M, Gilmour, M, Baker, A, Verheyden, S, Kepens, E. 1999. Calculation of past dead carbon proportion and variability by the comparison of AMS 14C and TIMS U/Th ages on two holocene stalagmites. Radiocarbon 41(3):251–70.Google Scholar
Geyh, MA, Schluchter, C. 1998. Calibration of the 14C time scale beyond 22,000 BP. Radiocarbon 40(1): 475–82.Google Scholar
Goslar, T, Arnold, M, Bard, E, Kuc, T, Pazdur, MF, Ralska-Jasiewiczowa, M, Rozanski, K, Tisnerat, N, Walanus, A, Wicik, B, Wieckowski, K. 1995. High concentration of atmospheric 14C during the Younger Dryas cold episode. Nature 377:414–7.Google Scholar
Goslar, T, Arnold, M, Tisnerat-Laborde, N, Czernik, J, Wieckowski, K. 2000. Variations of Younger Dryas atmospheric radiocarbon explicable without ocean circulation changes. Nature 403:877–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grootes, PM, Stuiver, M. 1997. Oxygen-18/16 variability in Greenland snow and ice with 103 to 105-year time resolution. Journal of Geophysical Research 102: 26,455–70.Google Scholar
Guyodo, Y, Valet, J-P. 1996. Relative variations in geomagnetic intensity from sedimentary records: the past 200,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 143:23–36.Google Scholar
Hajdas, I, Ivy, SD, Beer, J, Bonani, G, Imboden, D, Lotter, AF, Sturm, M, Suter, M. 1993. AMS radiocarbon dating and varve chronology of Lake Soppensee: 6000 to 12,000 14C years BP. Climate Dynamics 9:107–16.Google Scholar
Hajdas, I, Zolitschka, B, Ivy-Ochs, SD, Beer, J, Bonani, G, Leroy, SAG, Negendank, JW, Ramrath, M, Suter, M. 1995. AMS radiocarbon dating of annually laminated sediments from Lake Holzmaar, Germany. Quaternary Science Reviews 14:137–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamelin, B, Bard, E, Zindler, A, Fairbanks, RG. 1991. 234U/238U mass spectrometry of corals: How accurate is the U-Th age of the last interglacial period? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 106:169–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, GM. 2002. Seawater 234U/238U during the last 800,000 years. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 199:97–110.Google Scholar
Houtermans, JC, Suess, HE. 1973. Reservoir models and production rate variations of natural radiocarbon. Journal of Geophysical Research 78:1897.Google Scholar
Hughen, KA, Overpeck, JT, Lehman, SJ, Kashgarian, M, Southon, J, Peterson, LC, Alley, R, Sigman, DM. 1998. Deglacial changes in ocean circulation from an extended radiocarbon calibration. Nature 391:65–8.Google Scholar
Hughen, KA, Southon, JR, Lehman, SJ, Overpeck, JT. 2000. Synchronous radiocarbon and climate shifts during the last deglaciation. Science 290:1951–4.Google Scholar
Hughen, K, Lehman, S, Southon, J, Overpeck, J, Marchal, O, Herring, C, Turnbull, J. 2004. 14C activity and global carbon cycle changes over the past 50,000 years. Science 303:202–7.Google Scholar
Ivanovich, M, Harmon, RS, editors. Uranium Series Disequilibrium: Applications to Environmental Problems. Oxford: Clarendon.Google Scholar
Keir, RS. 1983. Reduction of thermohaline circulation during the deglaciation: the effect on atmospheric radiocarbon and CO2 . Earth and Planetary Science Letters 64:445–56.Google Scholar
Kitagawa, H, van der Plicht, J. 1998. Atmospheric radiocarbon calibration to 45,000 yr BP: Late Glacial fluctuations and cosmogenic isotope production. Science 279:1187–90.Google Scholar
Kromer, B, Spurk, M. 1988. Revision and tentative extension of the tree-ring based 14C calibration, 9200–11,855 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40(3):1117–25.Google Scholar
Ku, TL, Knauss, KG, Mathieu, GG. 1977. Uranium in the open ocean: concentration and isotopic composition. Deep-Sea Research 24:1005–17.Google Scholar
Lal, D. 1988. Theoretically expected variations in the terrestrial cosmic-ray production rates of isotopes. In: Corso, XCV, editor. Solar-Terrestrial Relationships and the Earth Environment in the Last Millennia. Societa Italiana di Fisica 95:216–33.Google Scholar
Libby, WF. 1955. Radiocarbon Dating. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
McManus, JF, Francois, R, Gherardi, J-M, Keigwin, LD, Brown-Leger, S. 2004. Collapse and rapid resumption of Atlantic meridional circulation linked to deglacial climate changes. Nature 428:834–7.Google Scholar
Oeschger, H, Welten, M, Eicher, U, Möll, M, Riesen, T, Siegenthaler, U, Wegmüller, S. 1980. 14C and other parameters during the Younger Dryas cold phase. Radiocarbon 22(2):299–310.Google Scholar
Ota, Y, Chappell, J, Kelley, R, Yonekura, N, Matsumoto, E, Nishimura, T, Head, J. 1993. Holocene coral reef terraces and coseismic uplift of Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Quaternary Research 40:177–88.Google Scholar
Pickett, DA, Murrell, MT, Williams, RW. 1994. Determination of femtogram quantities of protactinium in geologic samples by thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 66:1044–9.Google Scholar
Raisbeck, GM, Yiou, F, Bourles, D, Lorius, C, Jouzel, J, Barkov, NI. 1987. Evidence for two intervals of enhanced 10Be deposition in Antarctic ice during the last glacial period. Nature 326:273–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richter, FM, Turekian, KK. 1993. Simple models for the geochemical response of the ocean to climatic and tectonic forcing. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 119:121–31.Google Scholar
Robert, J, Miranda, CF, Muxart, R. 1969. Mesure de la periode du protactinium-231 par microcalorimetrie. Radiochimica Acta 50:104–8.Google Scholar
Robinson, LS, Henderson, GM, Hall, L, Matthews, I. 2003. Controls on δ234U in surface waters of the South Island, New Zealand. EOS Transactions, AGU v.84(46):Fall Meeting Supplement. Abstract v51c-0306.Google Scholar
Russell, AD, Emerson, S, Nelson, BK, Erez, J, Lea, DW. 1994. Uranium in foraminiferal calcite as a recorder of seawater uranium concentrations. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58:671–81.Google Scholar
Schramm, A, Stein, M, Goldstein, SL. 2000. Calibration of the 14C time scale to >40 ka by 234U-230Th dating of Lake Lisan sediments (last glacial Dead Sea). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 175:27–40.Google Scholar
Shen, CC, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Bradley Moran, S, Edmonds, HN, Hoff, JA, Thomas, RB. 2003. Measurement of attogram quantities of 231Pa in dissolved and particulate fractions of seawater by isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectroscopy. Analytical Chemistry 75:1075–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegenthaler, U, Heimann, M, Oeschger, H. 1980. 14C variations caused by changes in the global carbon cycle. Radiocarbon 22(2):177–91.Google Scholar
Sikes, EL, Samson, CR, Guilderson, TP, Howard, WR. 2000. Old radiocarbon ages in the southwest Pacific Ocean during the last glacial period and deglaciation. Nature 405:555–9.Google Scholar
Stein, M, Wasserburg, GJ, Aharon, P, Chen, JH, Zhu, ZR, Bloom, A, Chappell, J. 1993. TIMS U-series dating and stable isotopes of the last interglacial event in Papua New Guinea. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 57: 2541–54.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. 1978. Radiocarbon time scale tested against magnetic and other dating methods. Nature 273:271–4.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Grootes, PM, Braziunas, TF. 1995. The GISP2 δ18O record of the past 16,500 years and the role of the sun, ocean, and volcanoes. Quaternary Research 44: 341–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Beck, JW, Burr, GS, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, van der Plicht, J, Spurk, M. 1998. IntCal98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40(3):1041–83.Google Scholar
Suess, HE. 1970. The three causes of the secular 14C fluctuations, their amplitudes and time constants. Proceedings XII Nobel Symposium. New York: Wiley. p 569–606.Google Scholar
Tauber, H. 1970. The Scandinavian Varve Chronology and 14C Dating in Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology [Olsson, IU, editor]. New York: Wiley and Sons. p 173–96.Google Scholar
Taylor, FW, Bevis, MG, Edwards, RL, Gray, S, Cutler, KB, Phillips, DA, Cabioch, G, Mann, P. Forthcoming. Alternating rapid forearc subsidence and uplift caused by impinging bathymetric features: examples from the New Hebrides and Solomon Arcs. Journal of Geophysical Research. Google Scholar
van Kreveld, S, Sarnthein, M, Erlenkeuser, H, Grootes, P, Jung, S, Nadeau, MJ, Pflaumann, U, Voelker, A. 2000. Potential links between surging ice sheets, circulation changes, and the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles in the Irminger Sea, 60–18 kyr. Paleoceanography 15:425–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voelker, AHL, Sarnthein, M, Grootes, PM, Erlenkeuser, H, Laj, C, Mazaud, A, Nadeau, M-J, Schleicher, M. 1998. Correlation of marine 14C ages from the Nordic Seas with the GISP2 isotope record: implications for 14C calibration beyond 25 ka BP. Radiocarbon 40(1):517–34.Google Scholar
Vogel, JC, Kronfeld, J. 1998. Calibration of radiocarbon dates for the Late Pleistocene using U/Th dates on stalagmites. Radiocarbon 40(1):27–32.Google Scholar
Yiou, F, Raisbeck, GM, Baumgartner, SM, Beer, J, Hammer, CU, Johnsen, SJ, Jouzel, J, Kubik, PW, Lestringuez, J, Stiévenard, M, Suter, M, Yiou, P. 1997. 10Be in the GRIP ice core at Summit, Greenland. Journal of Geophysical Research 102:26,783–94.Google Scholar