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Anomalous Radiocarbon Ages Found in Campanian Ignimbrite Deposit of the Mediterranean Deep-Sea Core CT85-5

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Irka Hajdas ,
Carla Taricco ,
Georges Bonani ,
Jürg Beer ,
Stefano M Bernasconi  and
Lukas Wacker
Irka Hajdas*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH, Schafmattstrassc 20, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Carla Taricco
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Turin and IFSI-INAF, Turin, Italy.
Georges Bonani
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH, Schafmattstrassc 20, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Jürg Beer
Affiliation:
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Stefano M Bernasconi
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, ETH, Sonneggstrasse 5, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
Lukas Wacker
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH, Schafmattstrassc 20, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

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A detailed radiocarbon chronology has been established for the deep-sea core CT85-5 from the Tyrrhenian Sea. This chronology, which is based on the analysis of foraminifera shells, shows a set of reversed 14C ages for sediments deposited during the eruption of the Campanian Ignimbrite (∼40 ka cal BP). The anomalous young 14C ages coincide with elevated concentrations of 10Bc measured in the same core. Although reversals in 14C ages have been previously found in other records at 40 ka cal BP, such extreme changes have not been observed elsewhere. The enhancement in 14C concentration in CT85-5 sediments associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite is equivalent to an apparent age ∼15 ka younger than the age for the sediments deposited shortly before the eruption. Here, we present consistent results of repeated measurements showing no analytical problems that can explain the observed rapid changes in 14C of this particular record.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , 2011 , pp. 575 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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