Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-7jkgd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-21T10:31:33.591Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Dating of Pollen by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas A. Brown ,
D. Erle Nelson ,
Rolf W. Mathewes ,
John S. Vogel  and
John R. Southon
Thomas A. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
D. Erle Nelson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
Rolf W. Mathewes
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
John S. Vogel
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
John R. Southon
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon dating of bulk sediments has been the standard method for establishing chronologies in the studies of lake sediment cores which have contributed significantly to our knowledge of late Quaternary paleo-environments. These bulk sediment dates are presumed to be direct ageindicators for the speciments (e.g., pollen or macrofossils) which are actually being studied. However, several recent studies have reinforced long-standing apprehensions concerning this presumption. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time the radiocarbon dating of pollen concentrate samples by accelerator mass spectrometry. The dates obtained by this method should provide more reliable radiocarbon chronologies for paleo-environmental studies than have been obtainable by bulk sediment dating.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , September 1989 , pp. 205 - 212
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andree, M. Oeschger, H. Siegenthaler, U. Riesen, T. Moell, M. Ammann, B. Tobolski, K., (1986). 14C dating of plant macrofossils in lake sediment Radiocarbon 28, 411–416 Google Scholar
Bacon, C.R., (1983). Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 18, 57–115 Google Scholar
Barnosky, C.W., (1985). Late Quaternary vegetation near Battle Ground Lake, southern Puget Trough, Washington Geological Society of America Bulletin 96, 263–271 Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S. Andree, M. Klas, M. Bonani, G. Wolfli, W. Oeschger, H., (1988). New evidence from the South China Sea for an abrupt termination of the last glacial period Nature (London) 333, 156–159 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clague, J.J., (1980). Late Quaternary geology and geochronology of British Columbia. Part 1. Radiocarbon dates Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80 Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., (1981). Late Quaternary geology and geochronology of British Columbia. Part 2. Summary and discussion of radiocarbon-dated Quaternary history Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80 Google Scholar
Clayton, L. Moran, S.R., (1982). Chronology of late Wisconsinan glaciation in middle North America Quaternary Science Reviews 1, 55–82 Google Scholar
COMAP (1988).Climatic changes of the last 18,000 years: Observations and model simulations Science 241, 1043–1052 Google Scholar
Davis, R.B., (1974). Stratigraphical effects of tubificids in profundal lake sediments Limnology and Oceanography 19, 466–488 Google Scholar
Duplessy, J.C. Arnold, M. Maurice, P. Bard, E. Duprat, J. Moyes, J., (1986). Direct dating of the oxygen-isotope record of the last deglaciation by 14C accelerator mass spectrometry Nature (London) 320, 350–352 Google Scholar
Efford, I.E. Hall, K.J., (1975). Marion Lake—An analysis of a lake ecosystem Cameron, T.W.M. Billingsley, L.W. Energy Flow, Its Biological Dimensions: A Summary of the IBP in Canada, 1964–1974 Royal Society of Canada 199–219 Google Scholar
Faegri, K. Iversen, J., (1975). 3rd ed. Textbook of Pollen Analysis Blackwell Scientific Oxford Google Scholar
Fryxell, R., (1965). Mazama and Glacier Peak volcanic ash layers: Relative ages Science 147, 1288–1290 Google Scholar
Heslop-Harrison, J., (1968). Pollen wall development Science 166, 237 Google Scholar
Heusser, C.J. Rabassa, J., (1987). Cold climate episode of Younger Dryas age in Tierra del Fuego Nature (London) 328, 609–611 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittleman, L.R., (1973). Mineralogy, correlation, and grain-size distributions of Mazama tephra and other postglacial pyroclastic layers, Pacific Northwest Geological Society of America Bulletin 84, 2957–2980 Google Scholar
Libby, W.F., (1952). Radiocarbon Dating Univ. of Chicago Press Chicago Google Scholar
Lowe, J.J. Lowe, S. Fowler, A.J. Hedges, R.E.M. Austin, T.J.F., (1988). Comparison of accelerator and radiometric radiocarbon measurements obtained from late Devensian late glacial lake sediments from Llyn Gwerman, North Wales, UK Boreas 17, 355–369 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, G.M. Beukens, R.P. Kieser, W.E. Vitt, D.H., (1987). Comparative radiocarbon dating of terrestrial plant macrofossils and aquatic moss from the “ice-free corridor” of western Canada Geology 15, 837–840 Google Scholar
Mack, R.N. Okazaki, R. Valastro, S., (1979). Bracketing dates for two ash falls from Mount Mazama Nature (London) 279, 228–229 Google Scholar
Mathewes, R.W., (1973). A palynological study of postglacial vegetation changes in the University Research Forest, southwestern British Columbia Canadian Journal of Botany 51, 2085–2103 Google Scholar
Mathewes, R.W. Heusser, L.E., (1981). A 12,000 year palynological record of temperature and precipitation trends in southwestern British Columbia Canadian Journal of Botany 59, 707–710 Google Scholar
Mathewes, R.W. Westgate, J.A., (1980). Bridge River Tephra: Revised distribution and significance for detecting old carbon errors in radiocarbon dates of limnic sediments in southern British Columbia Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 17, 1454–1461 Google Scholar
Mehringer, P.J. Jr. Blinman, E. Petersen, K.L., (1977). Pollen influx and volcanic ash Science 198, 257–261 Google Scholar
Mott, R.J. Grant, D.R. Stea, R. Occhietti, S., (1986). Late-glacial climatic oscillation in Atlantic Canada equivalent to the Allerød/younger Dryas event Nature (London) 323, 247–250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, D.E. Vogel, J.S. Southon, J.R. Brown, T.A., (1986). Accelerator radiocarbon dating at SFU Radiocarbon 28, 215–222 Google Scholar
Olsson, I.U., (1986). A study of errors in 14C dates of peat and sediment Radiocarbon 28, 429–435 Google Scholar
Rubin, M. Alexander, C., (1960). U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates V American Journal of Science Radiocarbon Supplement 2, 129–185 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarna-Wojcicki, A.M. Champion, D.E. Davis, J.O., (1983). Holocene volcanism in the conterminous United States and the role of silicic volcanic ash layers in correlation of latest-Pleistocene and Holocene deposits Wright, H.E. Jr. Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States Vol. 2, Univ. of Minnesota Press Minneapolis 52–77 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. Polach, H., (1977). Discussion: Reporting of 14C data Radiocarbon 19, 355–363 Google Scholar
Sutherland, D.G., (1980). Problems of radiocarbon dating deposits from newly deglaciated terrain: Examples from the Scottish Lateglacial Lowe, J.J. Gray, J.M. Robinson, J.E. Studies in the Late-Glacial of North-West Europe Pergamon Oxford 139–149 Google Scholar
Tsukada, M., (1982). Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco: Its pollen dispersal and late Quaternary history in the Pacific Northwest Japanese Journal of Ecology 32, 159–187 Google Scholar
Vogel, J. S. Briskin, M. Nelson, D. E., and Southon, J. R. (in press (a)). Ultra-small carbon samples and the dating of sediments. In “Proceedings, 13th Inter. Radiocarbon Conf.” (Long, A. and Kra, R., Eds.); Radiocarbon , 31,(3).Google Scholar
Vogel, J.S. Nelson, D.E. Southon, J.R., (1987). 14C background levels in an accelerator mass spectrometry system Radiocarbon 29, 323–333 Google Scholar
Vogel, J. S. Nelson, D. E., and Southon, J. R. (in press (b)). Accuracy and precision in dating microgram carbon samples. Radiocarbon , 31,(2).Google Scholar
Wainman, N. Mathewes, R.W., (1987). Forest history of the last 12,000 years based on plant macrofossil analysis of sediment from Marion Lake, southwestern British Columbia Canadian Journal of Botany 65, 2179–2187 Google Scholar
Walker, I.R. Mathewes, R.W., (1987). Chironomidae (Diptera) and postglacial climate at Marion Lake, British Columbia, Canada Quaternary Research 27, 89–107 Google Scholar
Watts, W.A., (1980). Regional variation in the response of vegetation to lateglacial climatic events in Europe Lowe, J.J. Gray, J.M. Robinson, J.E. Studies in the Late-Glacial of North-West Europe Pergamon Oxford 1–21 Google Scholar