High-resolution radiocarbon chronologies and synchronization of records
Citation
Export citationHajdas, I., Lowe, D. J., & Newnham, R. M. (2006). High-resolution radiocarbon chronologies and synchronization of records. PAGES News: Past Global Changes, 14(3), 17–18.
Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10513
Abstract
It is now accepted that the precise dating of certain periods is complicated by extreme variability of atmospheric ¹⁴C content shown at times in the ¹⁴C calibration curve. This complication arises from variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C content and is known as wiggles in the calibration curve. Radiocarbon age ‘plateaus’, are caused by a decrease in the atmospheric ¹⁴C concentration and appear as a slowing down of the ¹⁴C clock such as occurred during the Younger Dryas (YD) chronozone. In effect, similar ¹⁴C ages apply across a range of up to 500 calendar years. The opposite is observed when atmospheric ¹⁴C levels increase so that the ¹⁴C clock appears to speed up. In such cases, which include the beginning of the YD and Pre-Boreal intervals, the true age of a sample, taking dating errors into account, may spread across a comparatively wide ¹⁴C age range
Date
2006Type
Publisher
Swiss and US National Science Foundations, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Rights
This article has been published in the journal: PAGESnews. Used with permission.