Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T23:02:37.130Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

14C Calibration in the Southern Hemisphere and the Date of the Last Taupo Eruption: Evidence from Tree-Ring Sequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

R. J. Sparks ,
W. H. Melhuish ,
J.W. A. McKee ,
John Ogden ,
J. G. Palmer  and
B. P. J. Molloy
R. J. Sparks
Affiliation:
Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., P.O. Box 31–312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
W. H. Melhuish
Affiliation:
Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., P.O. Box 31–312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
J.W. A. McKee
Affiliation:
Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Ltd., P.O. Box 31–312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
John Ogden
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Marine Science, Tamaki Campus, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
J. G. Palmer
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Science, Lincoln University, P.O. Box 84, Lincoln, New Zealand
B. P. J. Molloy
Affiliation:
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69, Lincoln, New Zealand
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.

Tree rings from a section of Prumnopitys taxifolia (matai) covering the period ad 1335–1745 have been radiocarbon dated and used to generate a 14C calibration curve for southern hemisphere wood. Comparison of this curve with calibration data for northern hemisphere wood does not show a systematic difference between 14C ages measured in the northern and southern hemispheres. A floating chronology covering 270 yr and terminating at the last Taupo (New Zealand) eruption, derived from a sequence of 10-yr samples of tree rings from Phyllocladus trichomanoides (celery pine, or tanekaha), is also consistent with the absence of a systematic north-south difference, and together with the matai data, fixes the date of the Taupo eruption at ad 232 ± 15.

Type
I. 14C in the Reconstruction of Past Environments
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 155 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © the Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona 

References

Clarkson, B. R., Patel, R. N. and Clarkson, B. D. 1988 Composition and structure of forest overwhelmed at Pureora, central North Island, New Zealand, during the Taupo eruption (c. AD 130). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 18(4): 417–436.Google Scholar
Froggatt, P. C. 1981. Stratigraphy and nature of Taupo Pumice formation. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 24: 231–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froggatt, P. C. and Lowe, D. J. 1990 A review of late Quaternary silicic and some other tephra formations from New Zealand: Their stratigraphy, nomenclature, distribution, volume and age. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 33: 89–109.Google Scholar
Healy, J. 1964 Stratigraphy and chronology of late quaternary volcanic ash in Taupo, Rotorua and Gisborne districts. Part 1. New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin 73: 7–42.Google Scholar
Mook, W. G. 1986 Business meeting: Recommendations/resolutions adopted by the Twelfth International 14C Conference. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 799.Google Scholar
Norton, D. A. and Ogden, J. 1987 Dendrochronology: A review with emphasis on New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 10: 77–96.Google Scholar
Palmer, J. G. (ms.) 1988 A palaeodendroclimatic study of Phyllocladus trichomanoides D. Don (tanekaha). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Auckland, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Palmer, J. G., Ogden, J. and Patel, R. N. 1988 A 426-year floating tree-ring chronology from Phyllocladus trichomanoides buried by the Taupo eruption at Pureora, central North Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 19(4): 407–415.Google Scholar
Scott, E. M., Harkness, D. D., Miller, B. F., Cook, G. T. and Baxter, M. S. 1992 Announcement of a further international intercomparison exercise. In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 14th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 34(3): 528–532.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Becker, B. 1993 High-precision decadal calibration of the radiocarbon time scale, AD 1950–6000 bc. In Stuiver, M., Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Calibration 1993. Radiocarbon 35(1): 35–65.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. A. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355–363.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Reimer, P. J. 1989 Histograms obtained from computerised radiocarbon age calibration. In Long, A., Kra, R. S. and Srdoč, D., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 817–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogel, J. C., Fuls, A., Visser, E. and Becker, B. 1986 Radiocarbon fluctuations during the third millenium BC. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2B): 935–938.Google Scholar
Vogel, J. C., Fuls, A., Visser, E. and Becker, B. 1993 Pretoria calibration curve for short lived samples, 1930–3350 bc. In Stuiver, M., Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Calibration 1993. Radiocarbon 35(1): 73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, C. J. N., Ambraseys, N. N., Bradley, J. and Walker, G. P. L. 1980 A new date for the Taupo eruption, New Zealand. Nature 288: 252–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar