230Th-234U and 14C Ages Obtained by Mass Spectrometry on Corals
- 1 January 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Radiocarbon
- Vol. 35 (1) , 191-199
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200013886
Abstract
In 1988, Fairbanks conducted a drilling expedition off the south coast of Barbados to recover submerged corals contemporaneous with the last deglaciation. Core recovery was excellent and >30 different samples were dated by conventional β-counting techniques (Fairbanks 1989). At about the same time, we developed, at Lamont, the thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) technique to obtain precise U-Th ages (Edwards 1988), and to compare them with the 14C estimates measured on the same samples. A surprising result was that the discrepancy between 14C and U-Th ages increased through time to ca. 3000–3500 yr at ca. 15,000 14C BP (Bard et al. 1990a). Because the three youngest samples yielded U-Th ages in agreement with their calibrated 14C ages, we concluded initially that the TIMS U-Th determinations were not only precise, but also accurate, and that the 14C vs. U-Th data set could be used for a first-order 14C calibration.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- A stable-isotope tree-ring timescale of the Late Glacial/Holocene boundaryNature, 1991
- THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATES FOR THE LAKE MUNGO ABORIGINAL FIREPLACES AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RADIOCARBON DATING*Archaeometry, 1991
- Climatic, Solar, Oceanic, and Geomagnetic Influences on Late-Glacial and Holocene Atmospheric 14C/12C ChangeQuaternary Research, 1991
- The age and origin of the “Younger Dryas climate event” in Greenland ice coresPaleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 1990
- The distribution of radiocarbon in the glacial oceanGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 1990
- A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulationNature, 1989
- THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING OF BURNT FLINT AND QUARTZ: COMPARATIVE RESULTSArchaeometry, 1987
- On the radiocarbon record in banded corals: Exchange parameters and net transport of 14CO2 between atmosphere and surface oceanJournal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 1983
- Polar ice evidence that atmospheric CO2 20,000 yr BP was 50% of presentNature, 1980
- Radiocarbon in annual coral rings of FloridaGeophysical Research Letters, 1978