Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T17:15:30.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14C Dating of ∼2500-Yr-Old Choukai Jindai Cedar Tree Rings from Japan Using Highly Accurate LSC Measurement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Hirohisa Sakurai*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Wataru Kato
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Yosuke Takahashi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Kayo Suzuki
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Yui Takahashi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Shuichi Gunji
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
Fuyuki Tokanai
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata 990-8560, Japan
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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.

Radiocarbon ages of 8 decadal tree rings and 66 single-yr tree rings have been measured with a highly accurate liquid scintillation counting (LSC) system (0.2% error) after synthesizing 10.5 g of benzene for each α-cellulose sample produced from tree rings of Choukai Jindai cedar in Japan (39°N). The 14C ages were between 2449 and 2539 14C yr BP for the 21 samples. From the wiggle-matching of the data set using the IntCal04 (Reimer et al. 2004) calibration data in OxCal v 3.10 (Bronk Ramsey 2005), the estimated age of the outer edge of the Choukai tree rings was 477.5 BC (±12.5 yr) with a confidence level of 95.5%; hence, the Choukai tree rings range from 2757 to 2437 cal BP. The age indicates an improved eruption date of the Choukai Volcano. The statistical errors at 1 σ are approximately ± 10 and ± 7 14C yr for the 5-yr data and the decadal data from the single-yr measurements, respectively. For the interval between 2580 and 2520 cal BP, it is statistically significant that the Choukai 14C ages are ∼16 14C yr older on average than both the IntCal04 and QL German oak (∼50°N) data sets. The ∼2.0% offset is informative for the study of regional offset in the Far East.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Braziunas, TF, Fung, IY, Stuiver, M. 1995. The preindustrial atmospheric 14CO2 latitudinal gradient as related to exchanges among atmospheric, oceanic, and terrestrial reservoirs. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 9:565–84.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon program OxCal. Radiocarbon 43(2A):355–63.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2005. OxCal program v3.10 [software and online manual]. URL: http://www.rlaha.ox.ac.uk/oxcal/oxcal.htm.Google Scholar
Endo, K, Sakurai, H, Sekiguchi, H, Gunji, S, Kato, A, Furusawa, S, Inui, E, Suzuki, A, Hamano, M. 2000. 14C measurement of synthesized benzene from old tree rings. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 47(6):1933–7.Google Scholar
Iguchi, T. 1988. The collapse of volcanic edifice and debris flow in Japan. Report of the National Research Center for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention 41:198232.Google Scholar
Kato, W, Sakurai, H, Suzuki, K, Takahashi, Y, Gandou, T, Agatsuma, N, Gunji, S, Tokanai, F. Forthcoming. Light yield and pulse-height spectra of high-purity Teflon vials for accurate 14C measurement in old tree rings. In: Chahipnik, S, Schönhofer, F, Noakes, JE. LSC2005, Advances in Liquid Scintillation Spectrometry. Tucson: Radiocarbon.Google Scholar
Kromer, B, Manning, S, Kuniholm, P, Newton, M, Spurk, M, Levin, I. 2001. Regional 14CO2 offsets in the troposphere: magnitude, mechanisms, and consequences. Science 294:2529–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumamoto, Y, Yoneda, M, Shibata, Y, Kume, H, Tanaka, A, Uehiro, T, Morita, M. 1998. Direct observation of the rapid turnover of the Japan Sea bottom water by means of AMS radiocarbon measurement. Geophysical Research Letters 25:651–4.Google Scholar
Manning, S, Kromer, B, Kuniholm, P, Newton, M. 2001. Anatolian tree rings and a new chronology for the East Mediterranean Bronze-Iron ages. Science 294:2532–5.Google Scholar
Mitsutani, T. 2001. Dendrochronology and cultural assets. Art of Japan 421:92–3. In Japanese.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RG, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2004. IntCal04, terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1029–58.Google Scholar
Sakamoto, M, Imamura, M, van der Plicht, J, Mitsutani, T, Sahara, M. 2003. Radiocarbon calibration for Japanese wood samples. Radiocarbon 45(1):81–9.Google Scholar
Sakurai, H, Sawaki, Y, Matsumoto, T, Aoki, T, Kato, W, Gandou, T, Gunji, S, Tokanai, F. 2003. Characteristics of high-purity Teflon vial for 14C measurement in old tree rings. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 505:454–7.Google Scholar
Sakurai, H, Gandou, T, Kato, W, Sawaki, Y, Matsumoto, T, Aoki, T, Matsuzaki, H, Gunji, S, Tokanai, F. 2004. AMS measurement of C-14 concentration in a single-year ring of a 2500-year-old tree. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223–224:371–5.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, H. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–63.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Braziunas, F. 1993. Atmospheric 14C and century-scale solar oscillations. Nature 338:405–7.Google Scholar
Suzuki, A, Sakurai, H, Endo, K, Noma, M, Gunji, S, Inui, E, Hamano, M. 1999. Pulse height distribution of P rays in 14C measurement with liquid scintillation counting system Quantulus. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 46(3):302–5.Google Scholar