Toward establishing precise 40Ar/39Ar chronologies for Late Pleistocene palaeoclimate archives: an example from Suigetsu SG06, Japan

Smith, V. C. et al. (2011) Toward establishing precise 40Ar/39Ar chronologies for Late Pleistocene palaeoclimate archives: an example from Suigetsu SG06, Japan. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(21-22), pp. 2845-2850. (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.06.020)

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Abstract

The varved Suigetsu (SG06) sediment core is potentially one of the most important and well-constrained mid-latitude palaeoclimate archives, recording continuous deposition during the last ∼150 kyrs. Numerous visible and non-visible volcanic ash layers form unique age markers within SG06. These ash layers are too fine and crystal-poor to be directly dated using the <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar technique so the tephra were correlated to proximal volcanic deposits using their glass shard compositions. A high-precision <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar sanidine age of 10.0 ± 0.3 ka (1σ, n = 34, MSWD = 0.71, p = 0.89) was obtained for the SG06-1288 (U-Oki) proximal tephra (Ulleungdo U4). <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar yields a precision of ±3% near the younger limit of the method, with improved precision possible for older SG06 samples. Such <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar ages for tephra layers can provide invaluable tie-points within the Lake Suigetsu SG06 sequence, giving independent verification of the core’s varve chronology, allowing for the calibration of cosmogenic nuclide production, and providing a precise chronology beyond the varve limit.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bryant, Dr Charlotte and Staff, Dr Richard
Authors: Smith, V. C., Mark, D. F., Staff, R., Blockley, S. P.E., Bronk Ramsey, C., Bryant, C. L., Nakagawa, T., Kyu Han, K., Weh, A., Takemura, K., and Danhara, T.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
Journal Name:Quaternary Science Reviews
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0277-3791
ISSN (Online):1873-457X
Published Online:19 July 2011

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