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Radiocarbon analysis of halophilic microbial lipids from an Australian salt lake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

P. Sargent Bray ,
Claudia M. Jones ,
Stewart J. Fallon ,
Jochen J. Brocks  and
Simon C. George
P. Sargent Bray*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Claudia M. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, USA
Stewart J. Fallon
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Jochen J. Brocks
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
Simon C. George
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: + 61 02 9850 6904. E-mail address:[email protected] (P.S. Bray).
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Abstract

Assigning accurate dates to hypersaline sediments opens important terrestrial records of local and regional paleoecologies and paleoclimatology. However, as of yet no conventional method of dating hypersaline systems has been widely adopted. Biomarker, mineralogical, and radiocarbon analyses of sediments and organic extracts from a shallow (13 cm) core from a hypersaline playa, Lake Tyrrell, southeastern Australia, produce a coherent age-depth curve beginning with modern microbial mats and extending to ~ 7500 cal yr BP. These analyses are furthermore used to identify and constrain the timing of the most recent change in hydrological regime at Lake Tyrrell, a shift from a clay deposit to the precipitation of evaporitic sands occurring at some time between ~ 4500 and 7000 yr. These analyses show the potential for widespread dating of hypersaline systems integrating the biomarker approach, reinforce the value of the radiocarbon content of biomarkers in understanding the flow of carbon in modern ecologies, and validate the temporal dimension of data provided by biomarkers when dating late Quaternary sediments.

Keywords

HypersalineRadiocarbonBiomarkerLake TyrrellDatingGeochemistry
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 104 - 109
Copyright
University of Washington

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