Atmospheric radiocarbon calibration to 45,000 yr BP: Late glacial fluctuations and cosmogenic isotope production

More than 250 carbon-14 accelerator mass spectrometry dates of terrestrial macrofossils from annually laminated sediments from Lake Suigetsu (Japan) provide a first atmospheric calibration for almost the total range of the radiocarbon method (45,000 years before the present), The results confirm the (recently revised) floating German pine chronology and are consistent with data from European and marine varved sediments, and combined uranium-thorium and carbon-14 dating of corals up to the Last Glacial Maximum, The data during the Glacial show large fluctuations in the atmospheric carbon-14 content, related to changes in global environment and in cosmogenic isotope production

Dateren met het radioactieve koolstofisotoop 14C

Radiocarbon has been central to the construction of chronologies (back to 50.000 years ago) for over 50 years. The small amount of natural 14C can be measured by two methods - conventional (radio-metry) and AMS (mass spectrometry). Dates can now be calibrated into calendar years back to 26.000 years. This article provides an overview of the method. One special application, wiggle match dating, for a peat bog from The Netherlands is discussed