Jon Olley

New ages for human occupation and climatic change at Lake Mungo Australia

Australias oldest human remains, found at Lake Mungo, include the worlds oldest ritual ochre burial (Mungo III) and the first recorded cremation (Mungo I). Until now, the importance of these finds has been constrained by limited chronologies and palaeoenvironmental information. Mungo III, the source of the worlds oldest human mitochondrial DNA, has been variously estimated at 30 thousand years (kyr) old, 42–45 kyr old and 62 ± 6 kyr old, while radiocarbon estimates placed the Mungo I cremation near 20–26 kyr ago. Here we report a new series of 25 optical ages showing that both burials occurred at 40 ± 2 kyr ago and that humans were present at Lake Mungo by 50–46 kyr ago, synchronously with, or soon after, initial occupation of northern and western Australia. Stratigraphic evidence indicates fluctuations between lake-full and drier conditions from 50 to 40 kyr ago, simultaneously with increased dust deposition, human arrival and continent-wide extinction of the megafauna. This was followed by sustained aridity between 40 and 30 kyr ago. This new chronology corrects previous estimates for human burials at this important site and provides a new picture of Homo sapiens adapting to deteriorating climate in the worlds driest inhabited continent.

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.

The effects of disequilibria in the uranium and thorium decay chains on burial dose rates in fluvial sediments

Abstract Buried sediments receive about 53% of their annual dose of ionising radiation from radionuclides in the uranium and thorium decay chains. In luminescence dating of sediment samples, it is usually assumed that the dose rate does not change over the period of burial, implying that the uranium and thorium decay series are in secular equilibrium. For the 232 Th decay chain there is little literature available on the equilibrium conditions in sediments, but given the short half-lives of the longer-lived daughters in the series, 228 Ra (5.75 years) and 228 Th (1.91 years), the decay chain is expected to be in secular equilibrium in most natural materials. However, for the 238 U decay chain, disequilibrium is commonplace in the surficial environment and the half-lives of several members of this decay chain ( 234 U, 230 Th, 226 Ra) are sufficiently long that any disequilibrium, once established, may persist for millennia. In these circumstances, the dose rate will vary with time unless the decay rate is matched by the transport and deposition of the relevant (unsupported) nuclide. We present data from a variety of fluvial and lacustrine depositional environments, and demonstrate that disequilibria is common in these Australian surficial sediments. The origins of the disequilibria and their likely evolution in time are discussed. The effect on the dose rate is assessed and, in the majority of cases, is found to be comparable with other luminescence dating uncertainties of typically 5–10%.

The origin of dose distributions in fluvial sediments, and the prospect of dating single grains from fluvial deposits using optically stimulated luminescence

We examine the causes of the asymmetric distributions of dose observed from measurements of the optically stimulated luminescence emitted by small aliquots of fluvial quartz, and deduce that the asymmetry arises as a result of samples being composed of a mix of mainly well bleached grains with grains that were effectively unbleached at the time of deposition. We demonstrate that the shapes of the dose distributions can be used to assess the likelihood that aliquots consist only of grains that were well-bleached at the time of deposition. The more asymmetric the distribution, the greater the probability that the aliquots with the lowest dose most closely represent the true burial dose. Single grains with differing doses are present in each of the samples examined, and the population with the lowest dose gives an optical age consistent with the expected burial age. This result implies that the beta-dose heterogeneity in these deposits is small, and that the effects of micro-dosimetric variations on optical dating of individual grains are not significant for these samples. We demonstrate that single-grain dating of fluvial material is possible and practicable using standard Riso optical dating equipment, and we conclude that application of a new regenerative-dose protocol to single grains of quartz, using the lowest dose population to estimate the burial dose, is the best available means of obtaining reliable luminescence ages for heterogeneously bleached fluvial sediments.

Large-scale patterns of erosion and sediment transport in river networks, with examples from Australia

This paper examines the patterns of sediment transport in rivers in terms of the sources of sediment and its transport and deposition through the river network. The analysis is in the context of dramatic human influences on river sediment transport and how they might influence freshwater ecosystems. The review of Australian work shows that erosion of hillslopes and stream banks has greatly increased in historical times, supplying vast quantities of sediment to rivers, much of which is still stored within the river system. The stored sediment will continue to effect in-stream and estuarine ecosystems for many decades. In most Australian catchments the dominant source of sediment is streambank erosion. An analysis of historical channel widening suggests that a conceptual framework of relative stream power can explain the diversity of behaviour observed in the numerous case studies. Sediment delivery through catchments is considered first in a generic whole network sense, which emphasizes the crucial role played by riverine deposition in determining catchment sediment budgets. A method is then presented for analysing the diverse spatial patterns of sediment storage in any river network. Finally, the paper considers the temporal changes to channel morphology in response to a human-induced pulse of sediment.

Distinguishing dose populations in sediment mixtures: a test of single-grain optical dating procedures using mixtures of laboratory-dosed quartz

Many natural deposits contain grains that have different burial histories, but reliable procedures to extract the component doses from mixed-dose samples have not been developed in optical dating. Here we present results for synthetic two- and three-component mixtures of data derived from laboratory-dosed sedimentary quartz using a single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol and statistical models for finite mixtures. Composite sets of data were created from the doses measured for individual grains that had been bleached by sunlight and then given a beta dose of 5, 10 or 20 Gy. We found that the correct number of dose components, corresponding doses, and relative proportions of each component may be estimated if the within-component dispersion is small or is known. We also found, however, that recuperation of the OSL signal in sun-bleached quartz may produce artificially high dose estimates for some grains, an effect that should be taken into account when modelling natural mixtures.

Measurement of equivalent doses in quartz from contemporary water-lain sediments using optically stimulated luminescence

The single aliquot technique and its derivatives are very attractive for the measurement of the very small doses found in young materials, because they inherently avoid concerns about low-dose non-linearity and can offer high precisions. A modification is outlined to the single Aliquot/regeneration and added dose (SARA) protocol [Mejdahl and Botter-Jensen (1994), Quaternary Geochronology (Quaternary Science Reviews), 13, 551–5541, to permit its application to sedimentary quartz using the optically stimulated luminescence signal. This revised protocol is then used to determine the doses found in several contemporary fluvial sediments and one coastal beach sand, thought to be deposi-ted by recent wave action. Two over-bank river deposits were both homogeneously well bleached, with doses of < 0.4 Gy. Although most of the grains in three channel deposits (from a range of catchment sizes) were also well bleached, ‘contamination’ by a small proportion of very poorly bleached quartz grains prevented the measurement of the dose in the majority. The beach deposit was homogeneously bleached and contained a dose of about 0.02 Gy. It is concluded that over-bank sites may provide accurate dates for samples older than a few hundred years, but that the heterogeneity of the channel sites limits the accuracy of dates less than a few thousand years.

Determining sources and transit times of suspended sediment in the Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales, Australia, using fallout 137Cs and 210Pb

Sediment budgets typically require an estimate of the proportional yield from erosion sources to sediments in transport and storage. This becomes increasingly difficult as catchments become larger, and erosion, storage, and deposition processes become more complex. We demonstrate how fallout radionuclides can be used to estimate the proportional contributions to sediment load, from a tripartite classification of erosion sources in a large catchment (the mid-Murrumbidgee, 13,500 km2). The three major potential sources of sediment within this catchment are cultivated lands (∼22% of the surface area), uncultivated pastoral lands (∼78%), and the numerous channels and gullies found in this region. Concentrations of the fallout radionuclides 210Pbex and 137Cs in representative samples from each of these three sources are significantly different. Employing these values in a simple mixing model shows that the largest contribution of material is currently derived from subsoil channel/gully sources. Alterations to the suspended sediment 210Pbex signature by in situ labeling and decay are also considered. Applying the model with different concentrations of 210Pbex (decayed as a function of residence time in channels) suggests that the mean residence time of fine-grained material within this system is 10±5 years. However, differences in 137Cs concentrations observed between flood and low-flow sediments, and the presence of the short-lived, cosmogenic 7Be, suggest that residence time of some of this fine-grained material may be of the order of only weeks to months.

Identifying sediment sources in a gullied catchment using natural and anthropogenic radioactivity

The ratio of the lithogenic nuclides 226Ra and 232Th indicates that the major source of sediment in transport in a gullied catchment, located in the head waters of Whiteheads Creek, New South Wales, Australia, is the gully itself. This observation is supported by 7Be and 137Cs concentrations which indicate that the sediment is derived from erosion of either gully floor or gully wall material. While subcatchment 7Be and 137Cs data show sheet, rill, and gully erosion are occurring in the upstream catchments, sediment from these sources is either being trapped before entering the gully, or the volume of sediment is small compared to that derived from the gully itself. The differences in the 226Ra to 232Th ratio between the suspended solids collected on the rising stage and samples of sediment deposited during the falling stage at the outlet of the catchment, indicate a change in the source of sediment during storm events. The results presented here demonstrate the applicability of radionuclide tracers in providing quantitative estimates of the relative contributions of individual catchments to the sediment moving within a drainage network, and in determining whether or not the sediments are mainly derived from subsoil or topsoil sources.

Extending the age range of optical dating using single ‘supergrains’ of quartz

Abstract Luminescence dating methods have been used to obtain reliable age estimates for quartz sediments deposited within the last 500 ka, but it has proven difficult to extend the age range much beyond this limit. Here we report the results of a study of individual quartz grains from Australian sedimentary deposits that range in age from ∼250 to ∼950 ka. A small number of the grains examined are strongly luminescent and saturate at unusually high doses. These ‘supergrains’ may permit reliable age determination to 1 Ma, and possibly beyond. Some other grains are in, or close to, dose-saturation, so that only minimum age estimates may be obtained. Most of the grains examined are very weakly luminescent and have palaeodoses much less than expected, while the palaeodoses of some grains cannot be estimated because of anomalous dose–response characteristics. We offer some possible explanations for the behaviour of aberrant grains.