Radiocarbon Age of the Laacher See Tephra: 11,230 ± 40 BP

The Laacher Sec Tephra (LST) layer provides a unique and invaluable time marker in European sediments with increasing importance because it occurs just before the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cold event. As the YD begins ca. 200 calendar years after the LST was deposited, accurate determination of the radiocarbon age of this ash layer will lead to a more accurate age assignment for the beginning of the YD. On the basis of 12 terrestrial plant macrofossil 14C ages derived from sediments from Soppensee, Holzmaar and Schlakenmehrener Maar, we found an age of at least 11,230 ± 40 bp for the LST event. This is ca. 200 yr older than the often reported age of 11,000 ± 50 bp (van den Bogaard and Schmincke 1985).

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New Radiocarbon Dates for the Vedde Ash and the Saksunarvatn Ash from Western Norway

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1996.0014 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 119-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 163

Author(s):

Hilary H. Birks ◽

Steinar Gulliksen ◽

Haflidi Haflidason ◽

Jan Mangerud ◽

Göran Possnert

Keyword(s):

Lake Sediment ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Plant Macrofossils ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Terrestrial Plant ◽

Radiocarbon Age ◽

The North ◽

Western Norway ◽

Ams Dates

AbstractThe Vedde Ash Bed (mid-Younger Dryas) and the Saksunarvatn Ash (early Holocene) are important regional stratigraphic event markers in the North Atlantic, the Norwegian Sea, and the adjacent land area. It is thus essential to date them as precisely as possible. The occurrence of the Saksunarvatn Ash is reported for the first time from western Norway, and both tephras are dated precisely by AMS analyses of terrestrial plant material and lake sediment at Kråkenes. The Vedde Ash has been previously dated at sites in western Norway to about 10,600 yr B.P. It is obvious in the Younger Dryas sediments at Kråkenes, and its identity is confirmed geochemically. The mean of four AMS dates of samples of Salix herbacea leaves adjacent to the tephra is 10,310 ± 50 yr B.P. The Saksunarvatn Ash is not visible in the early Holocene lake sediment at Kråkenes. After removal of organic material and diatoms, the identity of the tephra particles was confirmed geochemically, and their stratigraphic concentration was estimated. From curve matching of a series of seven AMS dates of terrestrial plant macrofossils and whole sediment, the radiocarbon age of the ash is 8930–9060 yr B.P., corresponding to an age of 9930–10,010 cal yr B.P. (7980–8060 cal yr B.C.).

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Precise radiocarbon dating of Late-Glacial cooling in mid-latitude South America

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/s0033-5894(02)00017-0 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 70-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 103

Author(s):

Irka Hajdas ◽

Georges Bonani ◽

Patricio I. Moreno ◽

Daniel Ariztegui

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Short Term ◽

Atlantic Region ◽

Cold Event ◽

Radiocarbon Age ◽

The North ◽

Younger Dryas Event

AbstractVariability of atmospheric 14C content often complicates radiocarbon-based chronologies; however, specific features such as periods of constant 14C age or steep changes in radiocarbon ages can be useful stratigraphic markers. The Younger Dryas event in the Northern Hemisphere is one of those periods, showing conspicuous 14C wiggles. Although the origin of those variations is not fully understood, we can make practical use of them and determine: (i) whether the Younger Dryas was global in extent; if so, (ii) were the initial cooling and the final warming synchronous worldwide; and (iii) what are the implications of these similarities/differences? Here we report high-resolution AMS 14C chronologies from the mid-latitudes of South America that pinpoint a cool episode between 11,400 and 10,20014C yr B.P. The onset of the final cool episode of the Late Glacial in the southern mid-latitudes, i.e., the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal, preceded the onset of the Younger Dryas cold event by ∼550 calendar years. Both events ended during a radiocarbon-age plateau at ∼10,20014C yr B.P. Thus, the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal encompasses the Younger Dryas, as well as a couple of short-term cool/warm oscillations that immediately preceded its onset in the North Atlantic region.

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A quantitative approach to inner shell losses

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010010977x ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 526-527 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R.D. Leapman ◽

P. Rez ◽

D.F. Mayers

Keyword(s):

Energy Transfer ◽

Cross Section ◽

Cross Sections ◽

Accurate Determination ◽

Background Intensity ◽

Core Excitation ◽

Quantitative Basis ◽

Cross Section Differential ◽

Bound Electrons

Microanalysis by EELS has been developing rapidly and though the general form of the spectrum is now understood there is a need to put the technique on a more quantitative basis (1,2). Certain aspects important for microanalysis include: (i) accurate determination of the partial cross sections, σx(α,ΔE) for core excitation when scattering lies inside collection angle a and energy range ΔE above the edge, (ii) behavior of the background intensity due to excitation of less strongly bound electrons, necessary for extrapolation beneath the signal of interest, (iii) departures from the simple hydrogenic K-edge seen in L and M losses, effecting σx and complicating microanalysis. Such problems might be approached empirically but here we describe how computation can elucidate the spectrum shape.The inelastic cross section differential with respect to energy transfer E and momentum transfer q for electrons of energy E0 and velocity v can be written as

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Fast calibration of CBED patterns for quantitative analysis

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100149209 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 674-675

Author(s):

M.A. Gribelyuk ◽

M. Rühle

Keyword(s):

Reciprocal Lattice ◽

Accurate Determination ◽

Incident Beam ◽

Crystal Thickness ◽

Structure Model ◽

Beam Direction ◽

Transmitted Beam ◽

Reciprocal Vector ◽

On Line

A new method is suggested for the accurate determination of the incident beam direction K, crystal thickness t and the coordinates of the basic reciprocal lattice vectors V1 and V2 (Fig. 1) of the ZOLZ plans in pixels of the digitized 2-D CBED pattern. For a given structure model and some estimated values Vest and Kest of some point O in the CBED pattern a set of line scans AkBk is chosen so that all the scans are located within CBED disks.The points on line scans AkBk are conjugate to those on A0B0 since they are shifted by the reciprocal vector gk with respect to each other. As many conjugate scans are considered as CBED disks fall into the energy filtered region of the experimental pattern. Electron intensities of the transmitted beam I0 and diffracted beams Igk for all points on conjugate scans are found as a function of crystal thickness t on the basis of the full dynamical calculation.

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Computer-Assisted High-Re Solution TEM

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100179567 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 162-163

Author(s):

F.A. Ponce ◽

H. Hikashi

Keyword(s):

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Accurate Determination ◽

Computer Software ◽

Video Camera ◽

Image Contrast ◽

Objective Lens ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Optical Parameters ◽

Astigmatism Correction

The determination of the atomic positions from HRTEM micrographs is only possible if the optical parameters are known to a certain accuracy, and reliable through-focus series are available to match the experimental images with calculated images of possible atomic models. The main limitation in interpreting images at the atomic level is the knowledge of the optical parameters such as beam alignment, astigmatism correction and defocus value. Under ordinary conditions, the uncertainty in these values is sufficiently large to prevent the accurate determination of the atomic positions. Therefore, in order to achieve the resolution power of the microscope (under 0.2nm) it is necessary to take extraordinary measures. The use of on line computers has been proposed [e.g.: 2-5] and used with certain amount of success.We have built a system that can perform operations in the range of one frame stored and analyzed per second. A schematic diagram of the system is shown in figure 1. A JEOL 4000EX microscope equipped with an external computer interface is directly linked to a SUN-3 computer. All electrical parameters in the microscope can be changed via this interface by the use of a set of commands. The image is received from a video camera. A commercial image processor improves the signal-to-noise ratio by recursively averaging with a time constant, usually set at 0.25 sec. The computer software is based on a multi-window system and is entirely mouse-driven. All operations can be performed by clicking the mouse on the appropiate windows and buttons. This capability leads to extreme friendliness, ease of operation, and high operator speeds. Image analysis can be done in various ways. Here, we have measured the image contrast and used it to optimize certain parameters. The system is designed to have instant access to: (a) x- and y- alignment coils, (b) x- and y- astigmatism correction coils, and (c) objective lens current. The algorithm is shown in figure 2. Figure 3 shows an example taken from a thin CdTe crystal. The image contrast is displayed for changing objective lens current (defocus value). The display is calibrated in angstroms. Images are stored on the disk and are accessible by clicking the data points in the graph. Some of the frame-store images are displayed in Fig. 4.

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