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Radiocarbon calibration  
 

 Ccash_subfossil_Calibration
Sub-fossil Huon pine section from Tasmaia

Radiocarbon in dated material has widely been used for the calibration of the radiocarbon timescale.

 

Here, the team has obtained a high-precision, high-resolution 14C record derived from a 617 year-long tree-ring chronology of Huon pine from Tasmania, Australia, spanning the early Younger Dryas. This tree-ring 14C record bridges the current gap in European tree-ring radiocarbon chronologies during the early Younger Dryas, linking the floating Late Glacial Pine record to the absolute tree-ring timescale.

 

This results in a continuous and reliable tree-ring-based atmospheric 14C record for the past 14,000 cal BP. In addition, the team have measured 14C in a U/Th-dated stalagmite from southern China for radiocarbon calibration with a focus on the period 30-25 kBP, where radiocarbon calibration data are sparse.

 

Project support
 

AINSE Grants 96/012R, 96/014R, 97/019R, 00/006, 01/003, 03/165 & 05/179P

 

Project team members
 

Mike Barbetti (Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory, Univ. Queensland), Fiona Bertuch (ANSTO), David Fink (ANSTO), J. Feng (Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory, Univ. Queensland), Ed Hodge (ANSTO), Quan Hua (ANSTO), Vladimir Levchenko (ANSTO), Andrew Smith (ANSTO) and Jian-xin Zhao (Radiogenic Isotope Laboratory, Univ. Queensland).

 

Publications related to this project
 

Hodge, E., Y-x. Feng, J-y. Wu, D. Fink, Q. Hua, and J-x. Zhao, Large atmospheric 14C variations between 30-25 ka measured in a speleothem from southern China, in preparation.

 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, D. Fink, K.F. Kaiser, M. Friedrich, B. Kromer, V.A. Levchenko, U. Zoppi, A.M. Smith and F. Bertuch, Atmospheric 14C variations derived from tree rings during the early Younger Dryas, Quaternary Science Reviews, in press, doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.08.013.

 

Barbetti, M., Q. Hua, U. Zoppi, D. Fink, Y. Zhao, and B. Thomson (2004), Radiocarbon variations from the southern hemisphere, 10,350-9,700 cal BP, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 223-224, 366-370.

 

Abstracts related to this project
 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, D. Fink, V.A. Levchenko, U. Zoppi, A.M. Smith and F. Bertuch, Variations in tree-ring 14C for the Younger Dryas, Past Climate Symposium and Australasian-INTIMATE Workshop, 15-17 May 2009, Wellington, New Zealand.

 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, D. Fink, V.A. Levchenko, U. Zoppi, A.M. Smith, and F. Bertuch, New radiocarbon measurements from Tasmanian Huon pine: Closing the current gap in tree-ring based calibration data for the early Younger Dryas, The 11th International Conference on AMS, 14-19 Sep 2008, Rome, Italy.

 

Hua, Q., Radiocarbon calibration and marine reservoir ages, The 4th Ainse Quaternary Dating Workshop, 26-27 Mar 2008, Lucas Heights, Sydney.

 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, D. Fink, U. Zoppi, and F. Bertuch, New radiocarbon data for the Younger Dryas derived from southern hemispheric tree rings (2007), the 17th INQUA Congress, 28 Jul V 3 Aug 2007, Cairns, Australia, Quaternary International, 167-168, 180.

 

Hodge, E., Y. Feng, J. Wu, D. Fink, Q. Hua and J.-x. Zhao (2007), Large and rapid fluctuations of radiocarbon concentration in a speleothem from southern China between 26-29 cal ka BP: implications for radiocarbon calibration and ocean circulation, the 17th INQUA Congress, 28 Jul V 3 Aug 2007, Cairns, Australia,Quaternary International, 167-168, 170-171.

 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, U. Zoppi, and D. Fink (2006), Radiocarbon during the Younger Dryas from Tasmanian Huon pine, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 70 (18), A269, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.06.542.

 

Hodge, E., J.-X. Zhao, Y.-X. Feng, J. Wu, D. Fink, and Q. Hua (2006), Coupled U-series and radiocarbon dating of a Chinese stalagmite from 15 to 33 ka: Testing calibration applicability and dead carbon correction variability, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 70(18), A255, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.06.513.

 

Hua, Q., M. Barbetti, U. Zoppi, and D. Fink, Variations in atmospheric 14C during the Younger Dryas from Huon pine tree rings in Tasmania, The 19th International Radiocarbon Conference, 3-7 Apr 2006, Oxford, UK.

 

Fink, D., Q. Hua, E.J. Hodge, J.-X. Zhao, Y.-X. Feng, J.-W, Nanjing, and G. Jacobsen, Preliminary results of Uranium-series and radiocarbon in a South China speleothem from 15-33 Ka: Testing calibration applicability and dead carbon correction variability, The 19th International Radiocarbon Conference, 3-7 Apr 2006, Oxford, UK.

 

Barbetti, M., Q. Hua, U. Zoppi, D. Fink, Y. Zhao, B. Thomson, and E. Cook, Radiocarbon calibration in the Younger Dryas chronozone, 12,800-11,500 years ago: AMS measurements on Huon pine tree-rings from Tasmania, The 18th International Radiocarbon Conference, 1-5 Sep 2003, Wellington, New Zealand.

 

Barbetti, M., Q. Hua, U. Zoppi, D. Fink, Y. Zhao, and B. Thomson, Radiocarbon variations from the Southern Hemisphere, 10,350 to 9,700 cal BP, The 9th International Conference on AMS, 9-13 Sep 2002, Nagoya, Japan.

 

Barbetti, M., B. Kromer, C. Tuniz, B. Thomson, Y. Zhao, L. Weeks, Q. Hua, and U. Zoppi, Tree-ring and radiocarbon results 10,400-9,600 cal BP from two hemispheres, The 8th International Conference on AMS, 6-10 Sep 1999, Vienna, Austria.