Radiocarbon and absolute chronology of the Late-Glacial record from Hauterive/Rouges-Terres, Lake Neuchdtel (CH)

• Radiocarbon ages of 87 samples made up of terrestrial macrofossils (mainly twigs of Salix sp.) were washed out from sediments sampled at Hauterive/Rouges-Terres, Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland, and measured using the AMS dating technique. These radiocarbon ages, which range from 8000 to 14,500 BP, were used to construct an absolute chronology of the record. A model of a sequence with known calendar ages for the period between 9000 to 17,500 cal BP was used to calibrate the 14 C ages. Three known calendar ages were set by pollen based dating (biozones) of palaeoclimatic events at 11,450 cal BP (Younger Dryas/Preboreal), 13,450 cal BP (Gerzensee Oscillation) and 14,650 cal BP (Oldest Dryas/ Bolling; see figure). This study shows that high resolution radiocarbon dating combined with such a calibration approach provides a powerful tool for dating stratigraphic sections by minimizing effects such as inversions in calendar ages and large errors caused by wiggles and plateaus in the radiocarbon time-scale.

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Paleoecology

Paleoekologi

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