Geraldine Jacobsen

Optical and radiocarbon dating at Jinmium rock shelter in northern Australia

The Jinmium rock shelter is located in the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Claims for ancient rock art and an early human presence at this site were based on thermoluminescence ages of 50–75 thousand years (kyr) for quartz sands associated with buried circular engravings (pecked cupules) and on thermoluminescence ages of 116–176 kyr for the underlying artefact-bearing deposits. Here we report substantially younger optical ages for quartz sand, and ages based on measurements of radioactive carbon in charcoal fragments, from the occupation deposit. Using conventional (multiple-grain) optical dating methods, we estimate that the base of the deposit is 22 kyr. However, dating of individual grains shows that some have been buried more recently. The single-grain optical ages indicate that the Jinmium deposit is younger than 10 kyr. This result is in agreement with the late-Holocene ages obtained for the upper two-thirds of the deposit from radiocarbon measurements. We suggest that some grains have older optical ages because they receivedinsufficient exposure to sunlight before burial. The presence of such grains in a sample will cause age overestimates using multiple-grain methods, whether using thermoluminescence or optical dating.

Progress In Radiocarbon Target Preparation At The Antares Ams Centre

We present routine methods of target preparation for radiocarbon analysis at the ANTARES Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Centre, as well as recent developments which have decreased our procedural blank level and improved our ability to process small samples containing less than 200 μg of carbon. Routine methods of 14 C sample preparation include sample pretreatment, CO 2 extraction (combustion, hydrolysis and water stripping) and conversion to graphite (graphitization). A new method of cleaning glassware and reagents used in sample processing, by baking them under a stream of oxygen, is described. The results show significant improvements in our procedural blanks. In addition, a new graphitization system dedicated to small samples, using H 2 /Fe reduction of CO 2 , has been commissioned. The technical details of this system, the graphite yield and the level of fractionation of the targets are discussed.

Measurement of 236U in environmental media

The long-lived uranium isotope 236U (T1/2=23.4 Ma) is produced by 235U neutron capture and builds up to high levels in nuclear fuel. It has been distributed in the environment as a result of nuclear activities including nuclear explosions, accidents at nuclear plants, dumping of nuclear waste and releases from nuclear facilities. 236U is a potentially useful tracer of irradiated uranium for nuclear safeguards or other applications, due to its virtual absence in natural samples (236U:238U ratio ∼10−10 in uranium ore). We have measured 236U in soil and sediment reference materials (IAEA 375, 135 and 300) by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The AMS system on the ANTARES accelerator has been upgraded to make such measurements possible. The system, including sample preparation procedures, is described and the results discussed.

Lake sediments record cycles of sediment flux driven by large earthquakes on the Alpine fault, New Zealand

Large earthquakes in mountain regions commonly trigger extensive landsliding and are important drivers of erosion, but the contribution of this landsliding to long-term erosion rates and seismic hazard remains poorly understood. Here we show that lake sediments record postseismic landscape response as a sequence of turbidites that can be used to quantify erosion related to large (moment magnitude, M w > 7.6) earthquakes on the Alpine fault, New Zealand. Alpine fault earthquakes caused a threefold increase in sediment flux over the ∼50 yr duration of each postseismic landscape response; this represents considerable delayed hazard following earthquake-induced strong ground motion. Earthquakes were responsible for 27% of the sediment flux from the lake catchment over the past 1100 yr, leading us to conclude that Alpine fault earthquakes are one of the most important drivers of erosion in the range front of the Southern Alps.

AMS at ANTARES – The first 10 years

Abstract The status and capabilities of the ANTARES AMS facility after 10 years are reviewed. The common AMS radioisotopes, 10 Be, 14 C, 26 Al, 36 Cl and 129 I, are routinely analysed. A capability for the detection of 236 U and other actinide isotopes has been developed. The measurement program includes support to Quaternary science projects at Australian universities and to ANSTO projects in global climate change and nuclear safeguards.

Sediment mixing and stratigraphic disorder revealed by the age-structure of Tellina shells in Great Barrier Reef sediment

Radiocarbon-calibrated amino acid racemization ages of 250 individually dated Tellina shells from two sediment cores are used to quantify molluscan time averaging with increasing burial depth in the shallow-water carbonate lagoon of Rib Reef, central Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The top 20 cm of sediment contain a distinct, essentially modern assemblage with a median age of only 5 yr. Sediment between 20 and 125 cm are age-homogeneous and significantly older than the surface sediment (median age 189 yr). Shell age distributions within layers indicate that the top 125 cm of lagoonal sediment is thoroughly mixed on a subcentennial scale. Shell size is an important correlate of shell half-life and an important determinant of the inferred age of sedimentary layers. These results illustrate the importance of bioturbation in these environments, indicate that age estimates in this depositional setting are sensitive to specimen choice, and document a size-dependent bias in death assemblage formation.

Bomb radiocarbon in annual tree rings from Thailand and Australia

We have examined the atmospheric 14C excess in the tropics and the southern hemisphere temperate region in the bomb pulse period, using two sets of cross-dated tree rings. One set was from a medium-sized three-leaf pine (Pinus kesiya) grown in northwestern Thailand and the other was from a Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) grown in northwestern Tasmania, Australia. A total of 48 annual tree rings (24 pairs) from 1952 to 1975 AD were pretreated to alpha-cellulose, combusted to CO2 and converted to graphite for 14C measurement in the tandem accelerator at ANSTO. Excellent agreement was found between our measured 14C data from tree rings and atmospheric 14C records at similar latitudes. A large depletion of atmospheric 14C for Thailand in 1953–1954 AD was observed. This might be due to a combination of the Suess effect and upwelling in the tropical Indian Ocean. The results also showed the rise and decay of bomb 14C peaks from north to south with a time delay of about 1.5 yr, and the effects of minor atmospheric nuclear tests in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A delay of at least one month for 14C in tree cellulose of Huon pine compared with that in the atmosphere was also found.

Fossil organic carbon in wastewater and its fate in treatment plants

This study reports the presence of fossil organic carbon in wastewater and its fate in wastewater treatment plants. The findings pinpoint the inaccuracy of current greenhouse gas accounting guidelines which defines all organic carbon in wastewater to be of biogenic origin. Stable and radiocarbon isotopes ((13)C and (14)C) were measured throughout the process train in four municipal wastewater treatment plants equipped with secondary activated sludge treatment. Isotopic mass balance analyses indicate that 4-14% of influent total organic carbon (TOC) is of fossil origin with concentrations between 6 and 35 mg/L; 88-98% of this is removed from the wastewater. The TOC mass balance analysis suggests that 39-65% of the fossil organic carbon from the influent is incorporated into the activated sludge through adsorption or from cell assimilation while 29-50% is likely transformed to carbon dioxide (CO2) during secondary treatment. The fossil organic carbon fraction in the sludge undergoes further biodegradation during anaerobic digestion with a 12% decrease in mass. 1.4-6.3% of the influent TOC consists of both biogenic and fossil carbon is estimated to be emitted as fossil CO2 from activated sludge treatment alone. The results suggest that current greenhouse gas accounting guidelines, which assume that all CO2 emission from wastewater is biogenic may lead to underestimation of emissions.

The hydrological legacy of deforestation on global wetlands

Increased catchment erosion and nutrient loading are commonly recognized impacts of deforestation on global wetlands. In contrast, an increase in water availability in deforested catchments is well known in modern studies but is rarely considered when evaluating past human impacts. We used a Budyko water balance approach, a meta-analysis of global wetland response to deforestation, and paleoecological studies from Australasia to explore this issue. After complete deforestation, we demonstrated that water available to wetlands increases by up to 15% of annual precipitation. This can convert ephemeral swamps to permanent lakes or even create new wetlands. This effect is globally significant, with 9 to 12% of wetlands affected, including 20 to 40% of Ramsar wetlands, but is widely unrecognized because human impact studies rarely test for it. Ancient Australasian deforestations created wetlands where none previously existed. Impacts of deforestation on wetlands Deforestation worldwide may be causing an increase in the extent of wetlands. Using a combination of different approaches, Woodward et al. show that ancient and more recent deforestation has resulted in major changes in global wetland hydrology. For example, in Australia and New Zealand, deforestation has created new wetlands or increased the water level in existing wetlands. Recognition of this effect has implications for landscape management: Reforestation programs in wetland catchments may have unintended consequences for vulnerable wetlands. Science, this issue p. 844

Losses and recovery of organic carbon from a seagrass ecosystem following disturbance

Seagrasses are among the Earths most efficient and long-term carbon sinks, but coastal development threatens this capacity. We report new evidence that disturbance to seagrass ecosystems causes release of ancient carbon. In a seagrass ecosystem that had been disturbed 50 years ago, we found that soil carbon stocks declined by 72%, which, according to radiocarbon dating, had taken hundreds to thousands of years to accumulate. Disturbed soils harboured different benthic bacterial communities (according to 16S rRNA sequence analysis), with higher proportions of aerobic heterotrophs compared with undisturbed. Fingerprinting of the carbon (via stable isotopes) suggested that the contribution of autochthonous carbon (carbon produced through plant primary production) to the soil carbon pool was less in disturbed areas compared with seagrass and recovered areas. Seagrass areas that had recovered from disturbance had slightly lower (35%) carbon levels than undisturbed, but more than twice as much as the disturbed areas, which is encouraging for restoration efforts. Slow rates of seagrass recovery imply the need to transplant seagrass, rather than waiting for recovery via natural processes. This study empirically demonstrates that disturbance to seagrass ecosystems can cause release of ancient carbon, with potentially major global warming consequences.