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Direct application of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis of leaf waxes to establish lacustrine sediment chronology

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Abstract

This study demonstrates use of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis (CSRA) for dating Holocene lacustrine sediments from carbonate-hosted Ordy Pond, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Long-chain odd-numbered normal alkanes (n-alkanes), biomarkers characteristic of terrestrial higher plants, were ubiquitous in Ordy Pond sediments. The δ13C of individual n-alkanes ranged from −29.9 to −25.5‰, within the expected range for n-alkanes synthesized by land plants using the C3 or C4 carbon fixation pathway. The 14C ages of n-alkanes determined by CSRA showed remarkably good agreement with 14C dates of rare plant macrofossils obtained from nearby sedimentary horizons. In general, CSRA of n-alkanes successfully refined the age-control of the sediments. The sum of n-alkanes in each sample produced 70–170 μg of carbon (C), however, greater age errors were confirmed for samples containing less than 80 μg of C. The 14C age of n-alkanes from one particular sedimentary horizon was 4,155 years older than the value expected from the refined age-control, resulting in an apparent and arguable age discrepancy. Several lines of evidence suggest that this particular sample was contaminated by introduction of 14C-free C during preparative capillary gas chromatography. This study simultaneously highlighted the promising potential of CSRA for paleo-applications and the risks of contamination associated with micro-scale 14C measurement of individual organic compounds.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate Dr. J. M. Hayes for his critical advice on the method development and data interpretations as well as the staff at the NOSAMS facility for analyzing the samples. We truly appreciate the kind assistance and technical support from R. J. Wallsgrove, T. Rust, and J. K. Tanimoto in the laboratory. We are grateful to Dr. C. I. Measures, M. Brown, and K. Kime, who hospitably allowed us to use their laboratory for sample preparations. We acknowledge significant contribution from Dr. S. J. Athens from International Archaeological Research Institute Inc. We would like to thank Dr. Eric J. Hochberg for his assistance on computer graphics. And lastly, constructive comments from the reviewers and editors tremendously improved the overall quality of our manuscript. This project was funded by Petroleum Research Fund (PRF # 40088-ACS) and in part by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society (Grants in aid of research, 2003). This is SOEST contribution number 7092.

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  1. Department of Oceanography, SOEST, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Joji Uchikawa & Jane E. Schoonmaker

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, SOEST, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Brian N. Popp

  3. National Ocean Sciences AMS Facility, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543-1539, USA

    Li Xu

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  1. Joji Uchikawa
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Correspondence to Joji Uchikawa.

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Uchikawa, J., Popp, B.N., Schoonmaker, J.E. et al. Direct application of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis of leaf waxes to establish lacustrine sediment chronology. J Paleolimnol 39, 43–60 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-007-9094-1

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