Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Reports of erroneously old 14C dates for modem Antarctic materials have thrown doubt into 14C chronologies. The carbon reservoir effect purported to exist in Quaternary lacustrine sediments of the McMurdo Dry Valleys was investigated by studying 14C distribution, and testing alternate dating techniq...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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ftlouisianastuir:oai:repository.lsu.edu:geo_pubs-1683 2024-09-15T17:43:50+00:00 Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica Doran, Peter T. Berger, G. W. Lyons, W. B. Wharton, R. A. Davisson, M. L. Southon, J. Dibb, J. E. 1999-03-15T08:00:00Z https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/684 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X unknown LSU Scholarly Repository https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/684 doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X Faculty Publications Antarctica Dating Geochronology Lacustrine Lakes Sediments text 1999 ftlouisianastuir https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X 2024-08-08T04:27:15Z Reports of erroneously old 14C dates for modem Antarctic materials have thrown doubt into 14C chronologies. The carbon reservoir effect purported to exist in Quaternary lacustrine sediments of the McMurdo Dry Valleys was investigated by studying 14C distribution, and testing alternate dating techniques. Our results show that the carbon reservoir effect is not pervasive. Stream and near-shore microbial mats and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the surface waters of Lake Fryxell are in equilibrium with modem 14CO2. The surface waters of Lake Hoare and Lake Bonney, however, have DIC 14C ages of 1650 and 2080 yr B.P., respectively. These older age estimates are suggested to be due to the direct input of large amounts of glacial melt with relict DIC. On the other hand, Lake Fryxell receives only a minor component of its inflow directly from a glacier, while a large component must travel long distances in numerous shallow ephemeral streams after leaving local valley glaciers. This mode of melt-water input allows the water to equilibrate with modem CO2 before entering the lake. Bottom-water 14C ages for Lake Hoare closely match surface sediment ages, supporting the widely published period ~1200 yr B.P. (after a 1650 yr reservoir correction) when most dry valley lakes apparently evaporated to small brine ponds and/or disappeared completely. Lake Bonney bottom-water is ~8000 yr B.P. Carbon dating is shown to be a viable technique for lake edge deposits, and possibly lake bottom deposits where a correction to the sediment surface age can be obtained. However, we conclude that deep-water paleolake deposits can not be reliably dated using 14C alone because of an inability to determine the age of the reservoir correction (i.e. accounting for the initial carbon reservoir, plus the age of the bottom water). A suite of alternative and complimentary dating techniques were tested on modern and late Holocene lacustrine deposits. These include thermoluminescence (TL), 210Pb, 137Cs, and paleomagnetism. Of these techniques, TL (or ... Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 147 3-4 223 239 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LSU Digital Commons (Louisiana State University) |
op_collection_id |
ftlouisianastuir |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Antarctica Dating Geochronology Lacustrine Lakes Sediments |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Dating Geochronology Lacustrine Lakes Sediments Doran, Peter T. Berger, G. W. Lyons, W. B. Wharton, R. A. Davisson, M. L. Southon, J. Dibb, J. E. Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Dating Geochronology Lacustrine Lakes Sediments |
description |
Reports of erroneously old 14C dates for modem Antarctic materials have thrown doubt into 14C chronologies. The carbon reservoir effect purported to exist in Quaternary lacustrine sediments of the McMurdo Dry Valleys was investigated by studying 14C distribution, and testing alternate dating techniques. Our results show that the carbon reservoir effect is not pervasive. Stream and near-shore microbial mats and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in the surface waters of Lake Fryxell are in equilibrium with modem 14CO2. The surface waters of Lake Hoare and Lake Bonney, however, have DIC 14C ages of 1650 and 2080 yr B.P., respectively. These older age estimates are suggested to be due to the direct input of large amounts of glacial melt with relict DIC. On the other hand, Lake Fryxell receives only a minor component of its inflow directly from a glacier, while a large component must travel long distances in numerous shallow ephemeral streams after leaving local valley glaciers. This mode of melt-water input allows the water to equilibrate with modem CO2 before entering the lake. Bottom-water 14C ages for Lake Hoare closely match surface sediment ages, supporting the widely published period ~1200 yr B.P. (after a 1650 yr reservoir correction) when most dry valley lakes apparently evaporated to small brine ponds and/or disappeared completely. Lake Bonney bottom-water is ~8000 yr B.P. Carbon dating is shown to be a viable technique for lake edge deposits, and possibly lake bottom deposits where a correction to the sediment surface age can be obtained. However, we conclude that deep-water paleolake deposits can not be reliably dated using 14C alone because of an inability to determine the age of the reservoir correction (i.e. accounting for the initial carbon reservoir, plus the age of the bottom water). A suite of alternative and complimentary dating techniques were tested on modern and late Holocene lacustrine deposits. These include thermoluminescence (TL), 210Pb, 137Cs, and paleomagnetism. Of these techniques, TL (or ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Doran, Peter T. Berger, G. W. Lyons, W. B. Wharton, R. A. Davisson, M. L. Southon, J. Dibb, J. E. |
author_facet |
Doran, Peter T. Berger, G. W. Lyons, W. B. Wharton, R. A. Davisson, M. L. Southon, J. Dibb, J. E. |
author_sort |
Doran, Peter T. |
title |
Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_short |
Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full |
Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dating Quaternary lacustrine sediments in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica |
title_sort |
dating quaternary lacustrine sediments in the mcmurdo dry valleys, antarctica |
publisher |
LSU Scholarly Repository |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/684 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
op_source |
Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://repository.lsu.edu/geo_pubs/684 doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(98)00159-X |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
container_volume |
147 |
container_issue |
3-4 |
container_start_page |
223 |
op_container_end_page |
239 |
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1810491036843114496 |