Decadally resolved lateglacial radiocarbon evidence from New Zealand Kauri

Journal article

The Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT; 15,000-11,000 cal BP) was characterized by complex spatiotemporal patterns ofclimate change, with numerous studies requiring accurate chronological control to decipher leads from lags in global paleoclimatic, -environmental and archaeological records. However, close scrutiny of the few available tree-ring chronologies and 14C-dated sequences composing the IntCal13 radiocarbon calibration curve, indicates significant weakness in 14C calibration across key periods of the LGIT. Here, we present a decadally-resolved atmospheric 14C record derived from New Zealand kauri spanning the Lateglacial from ~13,100 - 11,365 cal BP. Two floating kauri 14C time series, curve-matched to IntCal13, serve as a radiocarbon backbone through the Younger Dryas. The floating Northern Hemisphere (NH) 14C datasets derived from the YD-B and Central European Lateglacial Master tree-ring series are matched against the new kauri data, forming a robust NH 14C time series to ~14,200 cal BP. Our results show that IntCal13 is questionable from ~12,200 - 11,900 cal BP and the ~10,400 BP 14C plateau is approximately five decades too short. The new kauri record and re-positioned NH pine 14C series offer a refinement of the international 14C calibration curves IntCal13 and SHCal13, providing increased confidence in the correlation of global paleorecords.

Authors: Hogg, A; Southon, J; Turney, C; Palmer, J; Ramsey, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Radiocarbon
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 709-733
• Publication date: 2016-10-01
• Acceptance date: 2016-09-01
• DOI: 10.1017/RDC.2016.86
• ISSN: 0033-8222
• Keywords: Younger Dryas; SHCal13; Radiocarbon; IntCal13; radiocarbon calibration