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High-Resolution AMS 14C Dating of Post-Bomb Peat Archives of Atmospheric Pollutants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Michael E Goodsite ,
Werner Rom ,
Jan Heinemeier ,
Todd Lange ,
Suat Ooi ,
Peter G Appleby ,
William Shotyk ,
W O van der Knaap ,
Christian Lohse  and
Torben S Hansen
Michael E Goodsite
Affiliation:
Environmental Chemistry Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense University, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark Present affiliation: National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark, Department of Atmospheric Environment, Frederiksborgvej 399, P.O. Box 358, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Email: mgo@dmu.dk.
Werner Rom
Affiliation:
AMS 14C Dating Laboratory, Institute for Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 århus C, Denmark
Jan Heinemeier
Affiliation:
AMS 14C Dating Laboratory, Institute for Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 århus C, Denmark
Todd Lange
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Facility, Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Physics Building, 1118 East Fourth St, P.O. Box 210081, Tucson, Arizona, 85721-0081, USA
Suat Ooi
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Facility, Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Physics Building, 1118 East Fourth St, P.O. Box 210081, Tucson, Arizona, 85721-0081, USA
Peter G Appleby
Affiliation:
Environmental Radioactivity Research Centre, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, England
William Shotyk
Affiliation:
Geological Institute, University of Berne, Baltzerstrasse 1, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland
W O van der Knaap
Affiliation:
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Berne, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Berne, Switzerland
Christian Lohse
Affiliation:
Environmental Chemistry Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense University, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
Torben S Hansen
Affiliation:
Environmental Chemistry Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark, Odense University, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M, Denmark
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Abstract

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Peat deposits in Greenland and Denmark were investigated to show that high-resolution dating of these archives of atmospheric deposition can be provided for the last 50 years by radiocarbon dating using the atmospheric bomb pulse. 14C was determined in macrofossils from sequential one cm slices using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Values were calibrated with a general-purpose curve derived from annually averaged atmospheric 14CO2 values in the northernmost northern hemisphere (NNH, 30°–90°N). We present a thorough review of 14C bomb-pulse data from the NNH including our own measurements made in tree rings and seeds from Arizona as well as other previously published data. We show that our general-purpose calibration curve is valid for the whole NNH producing accurate dates within 1–2 years. In consequence, 14C AMS can precisely date individual points in recent peat deposits within the range of the bomb-pulse (from the mid-1950s on). Comparing the 14C AMS results with the customary dating method for recent peat profiles by 210Pb, we show that the use of 137Cs to validate and correct 210Pb dates proves to be more problematic than previously supposed.

As a unique example of our technique, we show how this chronometer can be applied to identify temporal changes in Hg concentrations from Danish and Greenland peat cores.

Type
I. Our ‘Dry’ Environment: Above Sea Level
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2B: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 3), Conference Editors: Israel Carmi, Elisabetta Boaretto , 2001 , pp. 495 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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