A Complete Terrestrial Radiocarbon Record for 11.2 to 52.8 kyr B.P.

TLDR

Radiocarbon dating is the preferred method for dating carbon-containing samples younger than ~50,000 yr, but its accuracy is affected by atmospheric 14C production variability, ocean reservoir effects, and dead‑carbon fraction variations. The study reports 14C results from Lake Suigetsu sediments, providing a continuous terrestrial radiocarbon record spanning up to 52.8 kyr BP. Bronk Ramsey et al.

Abstract

Dating Carbon Radiocarbon dating is the best way to determine the age of samples that contain carbon and that are younger than ∼50,000 years, the limit of precision for the method. There are several factors that complicate such age determinations, however, some of the most important of which include variability of the 14 C production in the atmosphere (which affects organic samples whose radiocarbon inventories are derived from atmospheric CO 2 ), surface ocean reservoir effects (which affect marine samples that acquire their radiocarbon signatures from seawater), and variable dead carbon fraction effects (which affect speleothems that derive their carbon from groundwaters). Bronk Ramsey et al. (p. 370 ; see the Perspective by Reimer ) avoid the need to make such assumptions, reporting the 14 C results of sediments from Lake Suigetsu, Japan. Analysis of terrestrial plant macrofossils in annually layered datable sediments yielded a direct record of atmospheric radiocarbon for the entire measurable interval up to 52.8 thousand years ago.