Lake Suigetsu varved sediment project: terrestrial radiocarbon calibration model and inter-regional comparison of climate changes
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Geog, Politics and Sociology
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.
Publications
Bronk Ramsey C
(2012)
A complete terrestrial radiocarbon record for 11.2 to 52.8 kyr B.P.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Marshall M
(2012)
A novel approach to varve counting using µXRF and X-radiography in combination with thin-section microscopy, applied to the Late Glacial chronology from Lake Suigetsu, Japan
in Quaternary Geochronology
Staff R
(2010)
A re-analysis of the Lake Suigetsu terrestrial radiocarbon calibration dataset
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Nakagawa T
(2013)
A standard sample method for controlling microfossil data precision: A proposal for higher data quality and greater opportunities for collaboration
in Quaternary International
Schlolaut G
(2012)
An automated method for varve interpolation and its application to the Late Glacial chronology from Lake Suigetsu, Japan
in Quaternary Geochronology
Demske D
(2013)
Atlas of pollen, spores and further non-pollen palynomorphs recorded in the glacial-interglacial late Quaternary sediments of Lake Suigetsu, central Japan
in Quaternary International
Schlolaut G
(2014)
Event layers in the Japanese Lake Suigetsu 'SG06' sediment core: description, interpretation and climatic implications
in Quaternary Science Reviews
Walker M
(2008)
Formal definition and dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Holocene using the Greenland NGRIP ice core, and selected auxiliary records
in Journal of Quaternary Science
Kossler A
(2011)
Onset and termination of the late-glacial climate reversal in the high-resolution diatom and sedimentary records from the annually laminated SG06 core from Lake Suigetsu, Japan
in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology