Sediment Cores from White Pond, South Carolina, contain a Platinum Anomaly, Pyrogenic Carbon Peak, and Coprophilous Spore Decline at 12.8 ka

Abstract A widespread platinum (Pt) anomaly was recently documented in Greenland ice and 11 North American sedimentary sequences at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) event (~12,800 cal yr BP), consistent with the YD Impact Hypothesis. We report high-resolution analyses of a 1-meter section of a la...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Moore, Christopher R., Brooks, Mark J., Goodyear, Albert C., Ferguson, Terry A., Perrotti, Angelina G., Mitra, Siddhartha, Listecki, Ashlyn M., King, Bailey C., Mallinson, David J., Lane, Chad S., Kapp, Joshua D., West, Allen, Carlson, David L., Wolbach, Wendy S., Them, Theodore R., Harris, M. Scott, Pyne-O’Donnell, Sean
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2019
Subjects:
Multidisciplinary
Carbon Peak
Greenland
White Pond
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51552-8
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51552-8.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51552-8
Description
Summary:Abstract A widespread platinum (Pt) anomaly was recently documented in Greenland ice and 11 North American sedimentary sequences at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) event (~12,800 cal yr BP), consistent with the YD Impact Hypothesis. We report high-resolution analyses of a 1-meter section of a lake core from White Pond, South Carolina, USA. After developing a Bayesian age-depth model that brackets the late Pleistocene through early Holocene, we analyzed and quantified the following: (1) Pt and palladium (Pd) abundance, (2) geochemistry of 58 elements, (3) coprophilous spores, (4) sedimentary organic matter (OC and sedaDNA), (5) stable isotopes of C (δ 13 C) and N (δ 15 N), (6) soot, (7) aciniform carbon, (8) cryptotephra, (9) mercury (Hg), and (10) magnetic susceptibility. We identified large Pt and Pt/Pd anomalies within a 2-cm section dated to the YD onset (12,785 ± 58 cal yr BP). These anomalies precede a decline in coprophilous spores and correlate with an abrupt peak in soot and C/OC ratios, indicative of large-scale regional biomass burning. We also observed a relatively large excursion in δ 15 N values, indicating rapid climatic and environmental/hydrological changes at the YD onset. Our results are consistent with the YD Impact Hypothesis and impact-related environmental and ecological changes.

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