Radiocarbon dating of a recent high latitude peat profile: Stor Åmyrân, northern Sweden

• Published in: The Holocene
• Main Authors: Oldfield, F., Thompson, R., Crooks, P.R.J., Gedye, S.J., Hall, V.A., Harkness, D.D., Housley, R.A., McCormac, F.G., Newton, A.J., Pilcher, J.R., Renberg, I., Richardson, N.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1997
• Subjects: Paleontology; Earth-Surface Processes; Ecology; Archeology; Global and Planetary Change; Askja; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095968369700700304; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/095968369700700304

The value of both high-precision (HP) and AMS 14 C determinations in the fine-resolution dating of recent peat at Stor Åmyrân, near Umeå, northern Sweden has been explored. A detailed chronology of accumu lation, based on 14 C, an occurrence of the Askja AD 1875 tephra and 241 Am measurements has been derived for the last 700 years. This shows significant changes in the mass balance of the peat profile, with minimum rates of net carbon sequestration overlapping with the period of minimum spring and summer temperature documented by published tree-ring evidence. The paper presents a methodology for calculating empirically past changes in the rate of net carbon sequestration in boreal peatlands and for exploring the effects of climatic variations (and possible future global warming) on these rates.