Single-crystal (U-Th)/He dating of 32 apatite and zircon crystals from an impact breccia yielded a weighted mean age of 663 ± 28 ka (n = 3; 4.2 % 2σ uncertainties) for the Monturaqui impact structure, Chile. This ∼350 m diameter simple crater preserves a small volume of impactite consisting of polymict breccias that are dominated by reworked target rock clasts. The small size, young age and limited

In this study we present a luminescence investigation of samples from the Požarevac loess–palaeosol sequence (LPS) in north–eastern Serbia. The pIRIR290 signal displayed a generally good behaviour and yielded stratigraphically consistent De values. The pIRIR290 ages show very good agreement (within uncertainty) with the expected stratigraphic ages up to about 260 ka. The analyses of the 4–11 μm quartz

Annually-laminated (varved) lake records serve as valuable archives for the study of subtle variations in the timing and expression of changing environmental and climatic conditions at sub-decadal resolution. Well-constrained, individual cryptotephras preserved within varved sediments can be precisely dated and allow the direct correlation of sites within which the same deposits are identified. Although

Sediments up to about 50 ka old can be dated by radiocarbon (14C), and typically biogenic carbonate minerals formed by organisms like foraminifera or mollusks are the primary choice for dating. However, carbonate-poor environments, typical for polar seas, limit the possibilities for 14C dating to bulk organic matter (OM), which is typically biased by the old carbon. In this study, ramped pyrolysis-oxidation

Here, we investigate the application of rock surface IRSL dating to chronology restrain archaeological structures related to upland pastoralism. We applied the method to cobbles collected from archaeological units in an excavation of a dry-stone structure in Val di Sole in the Italian Alps. At this site, archaeological finds and previous radiocarbon analyses have dated an initial human occupation of

Cosmogenic exposure dating is one of the most widely used methods to constrain the deglaciation history of former glaciated areas. In Greenland, more than 1000 cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages (10Be ages) have been published within the last two decades. However, a recurring problem is that many of these studies have reported variable amounts of nuclide inheritance making the 10Be ages too old and difficult

Previous studies observed that the single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol is problematic for the quartz violet stimulated luminescence (VSL) signal. We therefore evaluate the reliability of multiple aliquot approaches, i.e. single aliquot regeneration and added dose (SARA) and sensitivity-corrected multiple aliquot regenerative dose (SC-MAR) protocols, for the first time using fine-grained

Authigenic carbonates from cold seep systems, such as chimney and crust carbonate deposits, are important archives of biogeochemical processes associated with the migration of methane-rich fluids and seepages on the seafloor. Here we use a new U–Th dating method to precisely determine the ages of the authigenic carbonates of a chimney in the Okinawa Trough (OT), East China Sea. The method uses a series

Dating analysis of potsherds from three of the six units recently excavated in the Tingambato archaeological site, central-western Mexico, was carried out employing two regional intensity Paleosecular Variation Curves (PSVC) and the global model SHA.DIF.14k. A complete evaluation of the ceramic fragments' magnetic characteristics was done to determine the samples' magnetic carriers and their capacity

The Quaternary record of the US Mid-Atlantic coastal system includes onshore emergent late Pleistocene shoreline deposits, offshore inner shelf and barrier island units, and paleovalleys formed during multiple glacial stage sea-level lowstands. The geochronology of this coastal system is based on uranium series, radiocarbon, amino acid racemization (AAR), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)

Paleomagnetism is a powerful tool for establishing an almost continuous chronostratigraphy for an entire region. When combined with other dating methods, absolute or relative, it can be used to develop a regional reference chronostratigraphic framework. During the summer of 2016, several piston cores were collected along the Atlantic side of the Lesser Antilles onboard the R/V Pourquoi pas? as part

An accurate chronological framework is vital if we are to use lacustrine sediments on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) for paleoclimate reconstruction. Radiocarbon (14C) dating is the most frequently used method for dating late Quaternary lacustrine sediments. However, it is often affected by potential reservoir effects. Owing to the complex hydrogeology and sedimentology processes of the lake we study in

Seismic hazard assessment and geochronology are closely linked disciplines. The quantity and quality of the geochronological data used for fault-source characterization is crucial in seismic hazard estimates, which may have significant socio-economic implications. The characterization of Quaternary faults in the central sector of the Iberian Chain (NE Spain) has traditionally been based on ages provided

Usual methods are unfortunately unsuitable to accurately date many Holocene deposits and landforms from active Mexican volcanoes. This is notably the case for the Tacaná Volcanic Complex (TVC), located in the State of Chiapas in southern Mexico, and the San Marcos Department in Guatemala. The complex consists of the Chichuj, Tacaná, and San Antonio volcanoes and the Ardillas dome. Tacaná volcano, the

Volcanic sediments are generally difficult to date using luminescence dating methods, but many important archaeological and palaeoanthropological sites are located in volcanic regions. Here we present an improved dating procedure for grains with composite mineralogies deposited at Liang Bua, the type locality of Homo floresiensis in Indonesia, using the post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence

The feasibility of applying optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques to obtain estimates of the burial age of lithic clasts in the form of pebbles of quartzose lithology is investigated in this study. We applied OSL measurement procedures to vein-quartz and quartzite pebbles from contexts at five sites with fluvial and coastal beach contexts of depositional age ranging from 500 ka to the

In optical dating of feldspars, it is commonly supposed that potassium (K)-rich feldspar grains have been isolated for luminescence measurements by means of density separation. The K and rubidium (Rb) concentrations of these grains deliver a significant internal beta dose rate. K and Rb concentrations of 12.5 ± 0.5 wt% and 400 ± 100 ppm, respectively, are typically assumed for dose rate and age calculation

Knowledge of the Marine Reservoir Effect (MRE) correction is fundamental in palaeoceanographic research to establish an accurate age-depth model for marine sedimentary records. However, during the last decades different MRE corrections have been applied in inconsistent ways for the same locality and same sediment cores, at Soledad Basin, Baja California, Mexico, creating confusion about the proper

In recent years, rock surface dating has seen the emergence of a technique based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). This application translates the depth of OSL signal bleaching within a rock surface into an exposure age or erosion rate at 1-104 a timescales. Considerable effort has been undertaken to improve our understanding of OSL rock surface dating, yet a large amount of uncertainty associated

In the high mountain rock walls of the Mont Blanc massif, changes in the granite surface colour are related to its exposure age. The light grey colour of fresh rock surfaces turns orange when is long exposed to weathering. In order to study this colour/age relationship, reflectance spectroscopy was performed on 73 samples, and Terrestrial Cosmogenic Nuclide (TCN) dating was used to obtain their surface

Luminescence dating methods on natural minerals such as quartz and feldspars are indispensable for establishing chronologies in Quaternary Science. Commonly applied sediment dating methods are optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL). In 1999, Trautmann et al. (1999a, b) proposed a new related technique called infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF). IR-RF denotes

The luminescence sensitivity of a sample is the luminescence intensity measured in response to unit radioactive dose. Sensitivity is by no means a stable parameter, it might change during measurements, or in nature as well. The primary or natural magnitude of luminescence sensitivity is basically determined by mineralogical background (number of crystal impurities) and sedimentary prehistory (repeated

The Lower Pecos Canyonlands was the first study area where the method of plasma oxidation was employed to extract organic material from prehistoric rock paintings for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating. During the developmental phase of this method, Rowe's laboratory at Texas A&M University obtained 32 radiocarbon measurements for Lower Pecos rock art: 29 dates for 16 paintings of the

The stratigraphic sequences of numerous Palaeolithic sites of Central and Southern Italy, very rich in both archaeological and palaeontological remains, have also recorded Pleistocene volcanic events through volcanic ash deposits (tephra). They allow the establishment of an accurate chronological framework by comparing results obtained by 40Ar/39Ar dating method on single volcanic K-feldspar crystals

Eruption of the Old Crow tephra deposited ∼200 km3 of volcanic ash throughout Alaska and the northwestern Yukon (eastern Beringia), providing an isochronous marker across the region on a scale unique in the Pleistocene. The Old Crow tephra represents a critical temporal piercing point used extensively to link geographically disparate stratigraphic sections and the paleo-environmental records they contain

Distal tephra from the major Somma-Vesuvius Avellino (AV) eruption is widespread in the coastal basins of Southern Lazio (Central Italy). Dated to 1995 ± 10 cal yr BC in 2011, later on doubts arose about the reliability of this frequently cited age. This led to a major effort to date AV tephra holding sections, based on a thorough methodological approach. Various aspects were studied to identify sections

Lake sediment archives covering several glacial cycles are scarce in the Southern Hemisphere and they are challenging to date. Here we present the chronostratigraphy of the oldest continuous lake sediment archive in Tasmania, Australia; a 5.5 m and 270 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 8) sediment core from Lake Selina. We employ radiometric dating (radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence) and relative

Saltmarshes, wetlands, inter-tidal mudflats are highly productive natural ecosystems with significant ecological value. 210Pb and 137Cs have been used for establishing chronologies at a centennial scale in these sediments. They are relevant for assessing how saltmarshes are vulnerable to climate change, natural hazards and contamination from human inputs. This paper aims to review and adapt existing

Landsliding is a major natural hazard; therefore, understanding its activity is an important objective worldwide. For the investigation of the current landslide events, dendrogeomorphic methods are commonly used as they allow quite a precise dating of individual events. Nevertheless, there is still a question of whether dendrogeomorphic methods can successfully work for landslides with low-magnitude

Infrared photoluminescence (IRPL) is a Stokes-shifted emission arising from radiative relaxation of the excited state of the principal dosimetric tap in feldspar. Recent investigations have revealed that there exist two IRPL emissions at 880 nm and 955 nm (for excitation using 830 nm laser). Since IRPL does not depend on the recombination centers, the signal can be read out non-destructively; this

The production of high-resolution and accurate age models for lake sediments in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a prerequisite for subsequent paleoclimatic studies. However, Holocene lake sedimentary records with high-quality age controls from the TP are extremely scarce. Here we present the results of a comparative study of the results of the application of multiple dating techniques (14C, 210Pb, 137Cs)

The hydrological conditions of a lake system strongly influence the reservoir effect in the radiocarbon dating of endogenic organic and inorganic carbon in lake sediments. In this paper, we compare 14C dating with varve counting results for cores from Kusai Lake to determine the temporal changes in 14C reservoir ages during the last 2000 years. Based on the 14C budget equation for a lake system, the

Lake sediments are widely applied to investigate palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Radiocarbon dating of various materials is one of the most commonly used methods to constrain the timing of lake sediment deposition, but it is problematic for most lakes on the TP due to carbon reservoir effects. Because palaeomagnetic secular variations (PSV) share similar

Luminescence ages of eight sandy beach-ridge samples from the Krishna–Godavari delta region on the east coast of India were obtained by synthesizing ages based on three luminescence signals, i.e., optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from quartz, infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL), and post-infrared (pIR) IRSL290°C from feldspar. Standard statistical procedures and hierarchical Bayesian modeling

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating on quartz is well established following the introduction of the Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. Despite its widespread use, it has a major drawback in frequently underestimating the age of samples with equivalent dose (De) larger than ~120 Gy. In this study, we investigate fine-grained quartz extracted from Chinese loess with fairly well

In this study tektites from across the Australasian strewn field (specifically, mainland Australia, Tasmania, Java, Malaysia) have been dated by the fission-track method. Twelve tektites from 9 localities define two age groups: one has a weighted mean age of 822 ± 20 ka based on 12 age determinations, and the other is 655 ± 20 ka based on 10 age determinations. The older group represents formation

The study of the paleoenvironment depends upon proxies of palaeovegetation associated with chronological records. Carbon stable isotopes in soil samples provide information on the past vegetation type due to differences in mass fractionation during photosynthesis. Radiocarbon measurements on soil organic matter may also have different behaviors, given the complexity of soils as mixtures of multiple

The British Isles lack long high-precision and independent chronologies to reconstruct Holocene environmental and climatic conditions at sub-decadal timescales. This paper reports the first Holocene varved chronology for the lacustrine sediment record of Diss Mere in the UK. The record of Diss Mere is 15 m long, and shows 4.2 m of finely-laminated sediments, which are present between ca. 9 and 13 m

While amino acid (AA) geochronology has been widely applied to foraminiferal biomineral proteins, there has been limited assessment of the potential of isolating an ‘intra-crystalline’ fraction of proteins to improve the reliability of AA geochronology for foraminifera. In this study, bleaching experiments were carried out on the foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) from an independently

The knowledge of spatial distribution of landslide events is crucial from forest management, landscape planning or hazard assessment point of view. Dendrogeomorphic approaches are actually a suitable tool for construction of past landslide behaviour due to known position of sampled trees. The position of trees on the landslide surface can influence the detection of the spatial patterns of landslide

The abundance of marine mollusks found in Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean has made them enticing sample types for radiocarbon dating. Unfortunately, a paucity of local marine reservoir corrections (ΔR) for most of the region limits building chronologies using marine-based carbonates. Here we present a suite of 33 new ΔR values for 22 islands in both the Greater and Lesser Antilles

Two cores from a Weichselian periglacial alluvial fan were dated using 14C and OSL, to verify the reliability of both methods and check the upper dating limit of the 14C method. Both dating methods yielded a similar chronology for core Eerbeek-I, with infinite 14C dates for the lower part where OSL dates indicated ages of over 45 ka. Finite 14C dates were obtained throughout the core for Eerbeek-II

The ancient rock paintings drawn with ochre on the limestone cliffs at 15 sites in Cangyuan County, in southwestern China, contain more than 1200 identifiable figures. The paintings portray scenes of daily life in a remote mountainous area. The inhabitants probably led a sedentary life of animal herding and cultivation and in the scenes they are engaged in activities such as dancing, hunting and fighting

Radioactive isotopes are extremely useful for determining the age of corals, which can also provide extremely useful archives of past climate change and environmental pollution. In this study, we present a novel approach for dating young corals (<10 a), by applying the 228Th/228Ra method. 228Th/228Ra disequilibrium was widely observed in a variety of coral genera, from the fringing reefs to atoll reefs

Pyrogenic carbon (charcoal, black carbon, elemental carbon) is one of the most common materials used for radiocarbon dating of terrestrial samples. However, exogenous carbon contamination can compromise the accuracy of radiocarbon ages. This study presents the results of two chemical pretreatments prior to hydrogen pyrolysis (hypy) as improved protocols for the isolation and decontamination of pyrogenic

Potassium (K)-rich feldspars are one of two mineral types typically used for optical dating. Feldspar grains can contain up to ~14 wt% K that gives rise to an internal dose rate component. This internal component can comprise a significant proportion of the total environmental dose rate to which a mineral grain is exposed. The environmental dose rate term—the denominator in the optical age equation—determines

The Golo River drains a steep catchment (average gradient of 30 m km−1, surface of 1214 km2) in the northeast part of Corsica Island, delivering sediments to the Ligurian Sea. In this study, we review and revise the geologic map and constrain the extent of the Golo coastal alluvial plain formations and their relative and absolute chronology. To update the surface extent of each formation, we performed

The continental accumulation of dust during the Quaternary led to the formation of widespread loess deposits in southern Tajikistan. In this area, the accumulation of loess is commonly associated with the occurrence of dust storms and the widespread distribution of loess provides evidence of dust storms becoming more frequent in arid Central Asia at least since the Early Pleistocene. Southern Tajikistan

Age distributions of speleothem growth frequency are often employed as proxies for past climate variation. However, their interpretation can be influenced by many variables such as the type of probability density estimator used, the number of samples studied, and indeed the nature of the sampling itself. In order to explore the utility of speleothem age distributions in this context, we constructed

To extend the range of materials that can be used to provide chronological constraint in archaeological and palaeontological settings, we explore the use of cave pearls that form in shallow pools. Here, we present U-series dating results of cave pearls found in cave sediments with mammal fossils collected from systematic excavations at the Diaozhongyan Cave (“DZY”), located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous

A comparison of two different mechanical separation procedures, a settling process and sieving process, was performed in the samples preparation for radiocarbon dating of archaeological lime mortars from the Tower Keep at Irulegi Castle (Navarre, Spain). The different fractions obtained by the two different mechanical separation procedures were converted to carbon dioxide by sequential dissolution

The freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) was estimated for the northern part of West Siberia for the first time, based on securely dated samples from the late medieval town of Mangazeya existed mainly in AD 1601–1650. Twelve specimens of six species of freshwater fish were selected for 14C dating, and C and N stable isotopes analysis. The FRE varies from ca. 310 to ca. 1970 14C years, and there is no

The identification and correlation of a sequence of Pleistocene beach barriers located within the northern Coorong Coastal Plain, South Australia, is made difficult by long-term subsidence and extensive reworking. Associated shell beds, to all but the last interglacial barrier, are subsurface and not readily accessible. The whole-rock amino acid racemization method was found to be unsuitable for distinguishing

Lacustrine sediments provide an excellent opportunity to study climate change beyond the instrumental period and further to elucidate its intrinsic interactions with ecosystem. However, the radiocarbon (14C)-based chronological framework of such natural archives, on which robust interpretation of geochemical proxies primarily depends, is commonly challenged due to the difficulty in properly correcting

In optical dating, incomplete and heterogeneous resetting (“bleaching”) of the luminescence signal measured from mineral grains since the last episode of transport and deposition is commonly observed for sedimentary samples. As a result, different grains could have different equivalent dose (De) values at the time of deposition. For such samples, statistical treatment of the De distribution is required

To understand the salinity, redox characteristics, and climatology of Dali Lake during the late Holocene, we analysed trace element records from a high-resolution sediment core (DL-1), including Al, Mn, Zn, Mo, Pb, Fe, Sr, and Ba. The core was dated to 2100 cal BP based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating combined with the constant rate of supply (CRS) model. We identified five palaeoclimatic