AMS 14C and OSL/IRSL dating of the Dunaszekcső loess sequence (Hungary): chronology for 20 to 150 ka and implications for establishing reliable age-depth models for the last 40 ka

• Main Authors: Újvári, Gábor, Molnár, Mihály, Novothny, Á., Páll-Gergely, Barna, Kovács, János, Várhegyi, András
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2014
• Subjects: QE Geology / földtudományok; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://real.mtak.hu/19147/; http://real.mtak.hu/19147/1/ujvari_etal_2014_QSR_REAL_repozitorium.pdf; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114002273

As revealed by 18 AMS radiocarbon and 24 OSL/IRSL ages the Dunaszekcső loess-paleosol sequence is an excellent terrestrial record of paleoenvironmental change in the Carpathian Basin for the last 130 ka, with significant soil forming episodes during the Eemian interglacial (130 to 115 ka, MIS 5e) and in some subsequent MIS 5 stages, and distinct periods of loess accumulations during the MIS 4 and MIS 2. Charcoals from the sequence made it possible to test the accuracy of 14C ages from mollusc shells. This approach revealed that 14C ages from some gastropods having small shells (<10 mm) (Succinella oblonga, Vitrea crystallina) are statistically indistinguishable from the ages of charcoals, while others (Clausiliidae sp., Chondrula tridens) show age anomalies up to 600-800 years. OSL and pIRIR@290 ages are found to be consistently older, while post-IR OSL ages are younger than the 14C ages from charcoals and molluscs by some thousands of years, except for pIRIR@225 ages that match the radiocarbon ages quite well. OSL and IRSL ages have scatters up to 7-10 thousand years within 40 ka, while charcoals and small molluscs yield consistent ages with relatively low variability. Beyond the observation that some small molluscs seem to yield reliable 14C ages, calibrated 2σ age ranges of the radiocarbon data (ca. 500‒800 years for 20 to 30 ka) are an order of magnitude narrower than those of the OSL/IRSL methods (1800 to 4000 years for 25 to 35 ka). Thus, for establishing chronologies within 40 ka, which are both accurate and precise enough to address issues like synchroneity of millennial-scale paleoenvironmental events across regions (e.g. North Atlantic and Europe), AMS radiocarbon dating of shells of specific loess molluscs and charcoals may probably be a powerful chronological tool. However, additional work is definitely required involving 14C and OSL/IRSL dates from other loess sequences to further test the performance of these two supposedly robust chronometers.