Lake Suigetsu varved sediment project: terrestrial radiocarbon calibration model and inter-regional comparison of climate changes
Lead Research Organisation:
Aberystwyth University
Department Name: Inst of Geography and Earth Sciences
Abstract
Long term records of atmospheric radiocarbon provide a wealth of information, both as records of carbon cycling in the environment and as a basis for all 14C dating. The Holocene atmospheric radiocarbon record is provided by tree rings and is considered to be (almost) robust. However, that of the period from 12,410 to c.26,000 BP is based on marine sediments which are influenced by the marine reservoir effect. Also, the corresponding information for the atmosphere for the period 26,000 to 50,000 BP is lacking. This project will establish a radiocarbon calibration model for the Late Pleistocene (10,000 / 50,000 BP) based on terrestrial material, mostly deciduous tree leaf fossils which are free from marine reservoir effects, recovered from the annually laminated lacustrine sediments of Lake Suigetsu, Japan. The project will also produce quantitatively reconstructed climate changes of the Monsoon regions for the last 150,000 yeas using high or ultra-high resolution pollen records. The profile will be established using tie-points such as geomagnetic excursions and tephra layers. The project will therefore contribute to international scientific endeavour in using radiocarbon-based information to determine the timing and rates of environmental changes, as well as understanding past changes in the global carbon cycle. The project will also contribute to hypothesis testing about the causal mechanisms of climate change, especially concerning the relative timing of D/O events in Asia, North Atlantic, Antarctica and many other marine and terrestrial records through the last glacial-interglacial cycle.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Henry Lamb (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Costa K
(2014)
Isotopic reconstruction of the African Humid Period and Congo Air Boundary migration at Lake Tana, Ethiopia
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Battarbee R
(2014)
John Birks: Pioneer in quantitative palaeoecology
in The Holocene
Wagner B
(2016)
Late Glacial and Holocene environmental history of the Ethiopian Highlands inferred from a 12 m long sediment record from Dendi crater lakes
in Quaternary International
Loakes K
(2018)
Late Quaternary climate change in the north-eastern highlands of Ethiopia: A high resolution 15,600 year diatom and pigment record from Lake Hayk
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Gil-Romera G
(2019)
Long-term fire resilience of the Ericaceous Belt, Bale Mountains, Ethiopia.
in Biology letters
Davies S
(2015)
Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores
Gebregiorgis D
(2021)
Modern Sedimentation and Authigenic Mineral Formation in the Chew Bahir Basin, Southern Ethiopia: Implications for Interpretation of Late Quaternary Paleoclimate Records
in Frontiers in Earth Science
Grove M
(2020)
Neural networks differentiate between Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages in eastern Africa.
in PloS one
Staff R
(2016)
New 14 C Determinations from Lake Suigetsu, Japan: 12,000 to 0 Cal BP
in Radiocarbon
Loomis S
(2015)
Northeast African temperature variability since the Late Pleistocene
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Description | Extended the terrestrial radiocarbon calibration to 40,000 yrs ago |
Exploitation Route | In dating ancient organic materials with radiocabon |
Sectors | Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.suigetsu.org/embed.php?File= |
Description | Contribution to museum exhibits in Japan: major new varve museum at Wakasa, Japan |
First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
Sector | Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Cultural |