76 Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 9–120
during the period prior to 2000 14C yrs BP indicating relatively dry
conditions. Gradually increasing percentages of authigenic carbonate,
freshwater ostracod species and charophytes since 2000 14C yrs BP indicate
increasing lake levels and the establishment of wetter conditions. Initial
examination of pollen slides indicate that pollen is relatively well
preserved and includes tree-shrub and herbaceous taxa with microscopic
charcoal present in most samples. Synthesis of archaeological and palae-
onvironmental data will help provide a better insight into the settlement
decisions made by occupying cultures and the extent to which these
decisions were environmentally determined. This project is ongoing.
RADIOCARBON GHOSTDATES FROM SOUTHERN NORTH SEA MARINE
SHELLS
Freek S. Busschers. TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands, Netherlands
E-mail address: freek.busschers@tno.nl
We compared a new set of marine shell AMS radiocarbon age estimates
from boreholes in the Netherlands (southern North Sea area) with other
sources of age control. Most of the marine shells give ages between 32-46
14C ka (36-50 ka BP; MIS3). A much older MIS5e age (>117 ka) is however
suggested by 1) both quartz and feldspar Optically Stimulated Lumines-
cence dating, 2) pollen based biostratigraphical linkage to the Eemian type
localities of Amsterdam and 3) a for MIS3 unknown combination of a fully
interglacial vegetation assemblage, high sea-level position and warm sea-
water temperatures. The presence of intracrystalline cement on SEM
photographs, absent in modern (analogue) mollusc samples, shows that
the molluscs were subject to significant post-mortem crystal growth.
Although some percentage of secondary carbonates (calcite) is also sug-
gested by XRD analysis, the major part of the secondary crystals is likely of
aragonitic origin and hence undetectable because of their structural
similarity to the original mollusc aragonite. The clear evidence for
recrystallisation and therefore for a potential mechanism for uptake of
younger contaminant carbon from CO2 rich groundwater into the mollusc
carbonate structures leads us to conclude that in case of our samples, the
14C outcomes are erroneously young and severely underestimate the true
geological age. This finding confirms the other age-constraints that all
point to an age beyond 117 ka. Despite the recent extension of the cali-
bration dataset back to 50.000 calendar years BP our datasets illustrates
that at least for marine mollusc carbonate, major challenges remain to
determine reliable geological ages for 14C outcomes from the Pleistocene
period. Multidisciplinary approaches like we present should also be
applied to other materials and settings since it could evaluate the value of
14C dating at higher half-life and therefore the dating of Pleistocene
landscapes, sediments and archeological sites.
DIAGENETIC EFFECTS AND CLIMATIC VARIABILITY IN A NEW
CALEDONIAN CORAL PORITES FROM THE MID-HOLOCENE
Maria Gracia Bustamante. IRD LOCEAN, France
E-mail address: mariabustamante1@gmail.com
The coral aragonitic skeleton is a reliable archive of past climate variability
in the tropical region of the West Pacific influenced by the intertropical
convection zone and its south branch (South Pacific Convergence Zone)
and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. A 5500 years
cal BP Poritessp. coral, collected in the South-West of the mainland of New
Caledonia, was studied at a monthly resolution to reconstitute the climatic
variability at this key-period of the Mid-Holocene when the current ENSO
periodicity would have been established. The skeleton is well preserved as
attested by the 99.2% aragonite measured by X-Ray Diffraction and the
ultrastructure examination. Trace element and isotope profiles displayed
typical seasonal cycles over 20 years. Highly negative d13C and d18O values
in year 15 and higher values of U/Ca from years 15 to 17 are observed. It
appears that these values were obtained in a coral section more affected by
the dissolution than the whole sample. But the Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca and Ba/Ca
values do not show such a variation over the same period attesting that the
dissolution is not probably the most reliable hypothesis to explain the
discrepancy in the isotopic and U/Ca values over the cycles from 15 to 17.
However at this day, this remains to be explained. The Sea Surface
Temperatures (SST) were calculated from the Sr/Ca analyses and the
nutriment inputs were deduced from the variations of the Ba/Ca. The high
values of Ba/Ca were interpreted as a consequence of high rainfalls during
the summers. The mean SST is 2 C higher than the modern values. This is
consistent with the climatic conditions of the Holocene Optimum partly
recorded in our sample. Moreover, the geochemical results revealed
a higher seasonal variability (7.3 C vs. 5.1 C). Comparisons with the PMIP2
model are in progress.
SEM-EDS BASED PARTICLE-BY-PARTICLE CHARACTERISATION OF
A LARGE AUSTRALIAN DUST STORM
Alan Butcher. FEI, Australia
E-mail address: alan.butcher@fei.com
Dust storms have been a feature of desert Australia throughout the
Quaternary, but it takes an exceptionally big event to bring dust plumes
into the cities positioned along the coast. A recent large dust storm on 23
September 2009, colloquially known as the “Red Dawn event”, made
headline news across the world raising awareness of the power of aeolian
processes, and questions about their impacts on air quality, health, urban
infrastructure and the environment - all of which demand information on
dust composition. A suspended dust sample, collected using a high volume
air sampler in Brisbane, Queensland, during the event is analysed here on
a particle-by-particle basis, by applying an integrated Scanning Electron
Microscope/ Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) approach
that was originally developed for the mining and oil & gas sectors.
Thousands of individual dust particles are first mounted in epoxy to
reveal their 2D cross-sectional surface areas, and then automatically
imaged using QEMSCANÒ technology. The resulting false-coloured
digital mineral particle maps can be quantified in terms of their chemical
and mineral composition, within a textural context. Offline image anal-
ysis software allows for advanced classification of individual particles on
the basis of size, shape, texture and mineral associations. This method of
particle typing can be used to fingerprint particle populations, and
establish provenance by comparing samples from suspected sources
with those from known deposition sites. The mineralogy of surface
coatings can be investigated using a combination of high resolution
imaging of particle monolayers on carbon tape and 2D particle cross-
sectional surfaces. Finally, the new protocols developed in this study are
of interest to all those involved with the quantification of dust events,
particularly in terms of provenancing, but also their downwind impact
on air quality, human and animal health, radiative forcing, and the
marine environment.
NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN DYNAMICS DURING THE PAST MILLENNIUM
DERIVED FROM A LONG SHELL-BASED CHRONOLOGY FOR THE NORTH
ICELANDIC SHELF
Paul Butler. School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, United Kingdom
E-mail address: ossa07@bangor.ac.uk
The potential of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica as a high
resolution proxy archive for the boreal North Atlantic Ocean has been
further confirmed with the successful creation of a 1,350 year absolutely
dated chronology for the North Icelandic Shelf (NIS). This chronology,
which has been constructed by applying crossmatching and detrending
techniques from dendrochronology to patterns of annual growth incre-
ments in the shells, is the longest shell-based chronology so far con-
structed and includes eight shells from individuals whose lifetime
exceeded 300 years. Radiocarbon analysis of absolutely-dated carbonate
material has been used to build a time series of the marine radiocarbon
reservoir correction (?R) for the NIS. This indicates the age of the water
with respect to radiocarbon and enables changes in the relative influence
of (older) Arctic sourced water and (younger) Atlantic sourced water on
the NIS to be reconstructed. A trend from a more dominant Atlantic
influence to a more dominant Arctic influence from AD 650 to AD w1900 is
thought to suggest a progressive weakening of the Atlantic Meridional
Overturning Circulation. This trend seems to have reversed during the past
century. The data derived from the shells is consistent with ?R determi-
nations from deeper sediment cores at the same site on the NIS and with
estimates of Gulf Stream transport derived from multiple sediment cores