Quaternary Geochronology最新文献

Tephrochronology is a powerful tool used to synchronise and date stratigraphic records by accurate and precise geochemical analysis of deposited volcanic glass shards. However, in many distal stratigraphic records (e.g., polar ice cores) tephra shards are often extremely fine-grained (<10 μm). Geochemical characterisation of these shards is challenging because conventional preparation and analytical techniques require highly polished glass areas >5 μm for electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) to ensure high analytical totals and minimise alkali element loss. Recent method developments have put forward alternative approaches to accurately measure major oxides of small shards: a smaller 3 μm diameter beam, overlapping large (20 μm) beam areas onto supporting epoxy resin, and using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). However, there has been no direct intercomparison of these alternative techniques, which to date have only been tested on a limited range of glass compositions and tephras that are much larger than the extremely fine-grained material found in distal archives. These issues complicate decision making about the best analytical approach to take when faced with small shards. Here, we provide a new workflow protocol for the analysis of <10 μm tephra by determining the accuracy and precision of alternative SEM-EPMA methods. By analysing a variety of glass standards including those prepared to replicate fine-grained ice-core cryptotephras, we show that a 3 μm EPMA beam is suitable for use on all glass compositions provided the beam current is reduced to 1 nA. When glass areas are too small for a 3 μm beam we show that overlapping this small beam onto epoxy resin is preferable to SEM-EDS analysis. We also provide evidence confirming that using 3–0.2 μm polishes for <5 min increases analytical precision of the most abundant major oxides by up to three times, whilst, crucially, preserving the smallest shards in a sample. By directly applying these alternative methods to ice-core cryptotephra, we demonstrate the data are of suitable accuracy and precision to make robust geochemical correlations. This workflow can be applied to future tephrochronology studies, significantly increasing the quality and quantity of data that are obtained from cryptotephra horizons in distal records.

The precise dating of sedimentary archives covering the last 200 years in floodplains massively impacted by human activities is a major challenge. A combination of geochronological approaches is necessary to accurately date post-1800 sedimentary deposits. Here, we use a combination of a wide range of methods to unravel floodplain sedimentary dynamics, through the example of the Upper Rhine which is a highly regulated river. This comprises short--lived radionuclides (¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb_xs) and Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) single-grain dating. Luminescence profiling methods (IRSL screening, portable luminescence reader) were also used to further characterise sedimentation dynamics. These were combined with a hydrogeomorphological approach based on historical planimetric and hydrological data, the knowledge of engineering works as well as the morpho-sedimentary adjustments they induced. Our study demonstrates the value of historic maps as well as historical hydrological data, which provide precise time markers for dating the sedimentary archive under study. We illustrate different assumptions, validity domains and limitations inherent to each method, especially the complexity of ¹³⁷Cs to date floodplain sediments and the potential of luminescence methods for dating and estimating sedimentation continuity. We finally show the advantage of combining geochronological approaches in the construction of robust age models for young floodplain sedimentary archives in highly anthropized fluvial environments.

Rock art is found in many different regions of the world, with ages dated from late Palaeolithic period to the present. However, determining the precise ages for such artworks with direct chronological methods is challenging. U-series dating of secondary carbonates can constrain the age of rock art if these carbonates stratigraphically connected to the art. Hitherto, U-series isotope-dilution analyses with multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-MC-ICPMS) has been increasingly used for rock art dating. This approach can achieve U–Th isotope-ratio quantification at the per-mille or submille level, but requires chemical pretreatment using isotope spikes and results in a relatively low sampling resolution. While in situ U-series dating using laser ablation-MC-ICPMS (LA-MC-ICPMS) is significantly less precise than ID-MC-ICPMS analysis, it allows to collect spatially resolved data sequences on very thin samples (<1 mm). This is important for identification of open systems and the chronological integrity of the analyses. Therefore, we developed a new method for high spatial resolution U-series in situ analysis. A piece of homogeneous stalagmite was selected as an in-house standard (RM-C1) for U-series in situ dating analysis. RM-C1 contains high U (17.3 ± 1.0 μg/g) and low Th concentrations (<5 ng/g). The ²³⁴U/²³⁸U and ²³⁰Th/²³⁸U activity ratios of 1.0116 ± 0.0006 and 0.9525 ± 0.0013, respectively, corresponding to a U-series age of 303.5 ± 1.5 ka, were determined by the ID-MC-ICPMS analyses (n = 10). Using the RM-C1 standard, we were able to date the Dansgaard–Oeschger (D/O) 19 event (with an expected age of 68.9 to 70.3 ka) in a stalagmite to a range from 68.0 ± 2.0 to 71.2 ± 2.5 ka, with an average age of 69.6 ± 1.5 ka (n = 15). This demonstrates the accuracy and reproducibility of our dating protocol. Subsequently, we conducted U-series in situ dating of secondary carbonates associated with rock paintings with two samples from the Cangyuan shelter (CY2-4 and CY2-7) and two samples from the Wanrendong Cave (SL3-A and SL5-A) in Yunnan Province, southwestern China. These samples had high U-concentration (>4 μg/g) and negligible environmental Th. The carbonate layers immediately overlying the pigments of CY2-4 and CY2-7 were dated to 3.7 ± 0.3 and 3.2 ± 0.2 ka, respectively, suggesting that the Canyuan rock paintings belongs to a late Neolithic culture of this area. The pigment layer sandwiched in the sample SL3-A was bracketed to between 8.7 ± 0.3 and 10.1 ± 0.3 ka and in SL5-A to between 10.4 ± 0.3 and 10.8 ± 0.4 ka, implying that the Wanrendong rock paintings probably were created by a hunting-gathering population during the early Holocene.

A complex picture of the Pleistocene glaciation history of northern Switzerland has been identified over the last three decades. To gain further insights into the long-term landscape evolution, numerical dating is required. In the absence of alternative dating techniques, luminescence dating is the key method for establishing chronological constraints of past glaciations. However, this is presented with complex challenges, especially in regard to the resetting of the luminescence signal prior to deposition, the components contributing to the signal as well as the signal intensity and stability. In this study, the luminescence properties of glacially sourced deposits from northern Switzerland are assessed using single aliquot (SA) and single grain (SG) measurements of feldspar (F) and quartz (Q). While no obvious connection between bleaching and distal or proximal deposition in relation to the proposed ice margin is observed, most samples seem to reveal a partially bleached signature in F SG D_e measurements. This appears to be masked in the respective F SA measurements even though only few grains emit luminescence signals. In addition, comparisons between fading corrected infrared stimulated luminescence (IR) and post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR) D_e values appear to be unreliable indicators of bleaching, even though these signals bleach at different rates. Hence, it is recommended to conduct both IR and pIR investigations in combination with Q measurements on a SG level. The dating potential of the investigated deposits remains rather limited, yet, in the sedimentologic context the presented results reveal that several glacial advances occurred prior to the Last Interglacial in the study area.

In 2017 part of an ancient stone causeway was uncovered at Karlslunde on the island of Sjælland, Denmark. With no artefacts found at the site, optically stimulated luminescence dating of coarse grains, grains derived from disaggregated rocks, and surficial rock chips obtained directly from granitic road cobbles were used to determine the time of construction. Some granitic road cobbles were visibly disaggregating at the time of excavation, and laboratory measurements revealed surprising strong fast component dominated quartz sensitivity from these samples. It was concluded that some of the rocks used in the causeway had been heated, presumably prior to incorporation in the structure. Dose recovery plateau experiments using sedimentary quartz and quartz grains recovered by gently disaggregating heated rocks suggested the use of a 220/180 °C preheat/cut-heat combination (DR ratio 0.999 ± 0.018; n = 40); this reduced the risk of thermal transfer in these young samples. IRSL signals were used for rocks that could not be disaggregated. The L/T burial profiles obtained from two unheated rocks (1 granite, 1 felsic gneiss) indicated they had been exposed for sufficient time for us to be confident of obtaining accurate IRSL ages. The post-IR IRSL₁₈₀ signals were also measured in these two cobbles; the bleaching front was shallow and the signal was only sufficiently reset to allow accurate determination of D_e on one rock. After subtracting a residual, the dose recovery ratio results for the unheated rocks post-IR IRSL₁₈₀ and IR₅₀ were 1.006 ± 0.012 (n = 10) and 0.937 ± 0.007 (n = 10), respectively. In total 8 ages were accepted; 4 coarse grained sediment quartz ages from an unexcavated part of the road surface, 2 fading corrected IR₅₀ ages from surface slices from non-disaggregated cobbles, and 2 quartz ages from disaggregated (apparently heated) cobbles. IRSL signals from the sedimentary and heated samples were used primarily to assess the degree of resetting of the quartz blue-stimulated OSL; both the post-IR IRSL and IR₅₀ signals significantly over-estimated the quartz age. However, the sedimentary quartz ages, the heated cobble quartz ages and the fading corrected IR₅₀ ages from the unheated road cobbles, are consistent and likely reflect a construction age of ∼2ka ago.

Moraine deposits are difficult to date using conventional luminescence techniques, especially such deposits without glaciofluvial sand lenses incorporated within the feature. Recently developed rock surface luminescence burial dating has shown the potential for constraining heterogeneous glacial till sediments. However, the wider applicability of the luminescence dating of cobbles obtained from moraine deposits needs to be tested. Thirty-one buried granite cobbles from different generations of terminal moraines of the last deglaciation moraine series in the source area of the Litang River, eastern Tibetan Plateau, were collected. Eight cosmogenic nuclide ¹⁰Be exposure ages were generated from eight boulders obtained from the ridges of two moraines, to provide an external age control. A post-IR₅₀ IRSL₂₂₅ single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol was applied to measure the luminescence signal from rock slices. The IRSL₅₀ L_n/T_n-depth profiles from 23 cobbles showing surface age plateaus (up to 12 mm), indicating that the material was well-bleached prior to deposition. The depth of the bleaching front is variable between individual cobbles from the same deposit. Three distinct methods were employed to observe and correct for any anomalous fading present. We observe age agreement from different cobbles collected from the same moraine deposits, illustrating the reproducibility at our selected locations. The luminescence ages of burial cobbles (15.5 ± 2.1 ka to 20.0 ± 1.6 ka) align with geomorphic relationships and ¹⁰Be exposure ages. Particularly, the age of cobbles from one of the moraines (20.0 ± 1.6 ka) is consistent with independent ¹⁰Be exposure ages (18.6 ± 1.2 ka) of boulders from the same moraine. This study demonstrates the applicability of the luminescence dating of moraine deposits, using cobbles, and provides deeper insights of the last deglaciation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau.