Improving Antarctic Sediment ¹⁴C Dating Using Ramped Pyrolysis: An Example from the Hugo Island Trough

Authors

Brad E. Rosenheim, Tulane UniversityFollow
Jennifer A. Santoro, Hamilton College
Madeleine Gunter, Hamilton College
Eugene W. Domack, Hamilton College

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.v55i1.16234

Abstract

To improve the chronology of sediments containing information about Holocene ice shelf and oceanic dynamics in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula, we compare bulk acid-insoluble radiocarbon dating to ramped pyrolysis ¹⁴C dating in a sediment core containing ample organic material. This core spans the last 12,000 yr of open-shelf sedimentation in the Bellingshausen Sea, western Antarctic Peninsula. By estimating the spectrum of ¹⁴C ages within a given core horizon, the ramped pyrolysis ¹⁴C method separates organic carbon relative to thermal stability, isolating younger parts of the mixture from older ones and providing an estimate of the geological uncertainty inherent in a bulk ¹⁴C age. Employing the ramped pyrolysis ¹⁴C method to this core demonstrates variable bulk ¹⁴C age bias and increasing age spectrum downcore, neither of which can be associated with major changes in lithology of the core. The chronology of the sediment core using the youngest ages from the ramped pyrolysis technique allows for correlation between nearby Palmer Deep sediments and these sediments from the Hugo Island Trough.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

No

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Radiocarbon, v. 55, issue 1, p. 115-126

Scholar Commons Citation

Rosenheim, Brad E.; Santoro, Jennifer A.; Gunter, Madeleine; and Domack, Eugene W., "Improving Antarctic Sediment ¹⁴C Dating Using Ramped Pyrolysis: An Example from the Hugo Island Trough" (2013). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 2451.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/2451