Abstract
The age of the Matuyama–Brunhes (M–B) boundary has been estimated from the astronomical ages of marine sediments and the 40Ar/39Ar ages of volcanic rocks. Although the accepted age for the M–B boundary is 780 ka, recent studies have questioned conventional estimates of the boundary age. In this paper, I present clear evidence for the existence of errors in palaeomagnetic dating due to the effect of the post-depositional remanent magnetization (PDRM) lock-in depth, based on a comparison between previously published marine isotope ages for the M–B boundary and sedimentation rates. These findings indicate that the age of the M–B boundary should be revised to ca. 770–773 ka and that the boundary most likely lies in the late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19 rather than in the middle of MIS 19. This new age for the M–B boundary is consistent with that obtained from the EPICA Dome C ice core using an EDC3 age model. In contrast, an age offset for the M–B boundary is recognized between marine sediments and 40Ar/39Ar ages. To resolve this discrepancy, additional data are required from marine sediments, volcanic rocks, and ice cores.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Dreyfus, G. B., Raisbeck, G. M., Parrenin, F., Jouzel, J., Guyodo, Y., Nomade, S., et al. (2008). An ice core perspective on the age of the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. Earth and Planetary Science Letters,274, 151–156.
Horng, C. S., Lee, M. Y., Pälike, H., Wei, K. Y., Liang, W. T., Iizuka, Y., et al. (2002). Astronomically calibrated ages for geomagnetic reversals within the Matuyama chron. Earth, Planets and Space,54, 679–690.
Horng, C. S., Roberts, A. P., & Liang, W. T. (2003). A 2.14-Myr astronomically tuned record of relative geomagnetic paleointensity from the western Philippine Sea. Journal of Geophysical Research,108, 2059. doi:10.1029/2001JB001698.
Channell, J. E. T., & Raymo, M. E. (2003). Paleomagnetic record at ODP Site 980 (Feni Drift, Rockall) for the past 1.2 Myrs. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems,4, 1033. doi:10.29/2002GC000440.
Channell, J. E. T., Hodell, D. A., Xuan, C., Mazaud, A., & Stoner, J. S. (2008). Age calibrated relative paleointensity for the last 1.5 Myr at IODP Site U1308 (North Atlantic). Earth and Planetary Science Letters,274, 59–71.
Guyodo, Y., & Valet, J. P. (1999). Global changes in intensity of the Earth's magnetic field during the past 800 kyr, Nature, 399, 249–252.
Jouzel, J., Masson-Delmotte, V., Cattani, O., Dreyfus, G., Falourd, S., Hoffmann, G., et al. (2007). Orbital and millennial Antarctic climate variability over the past 800,000 years. Science,317, 793–796.
Kuiper, K. F., Deino, A., Hilgen, F. J., Krijgsman, W., Renne, P. R., & Wijbrans, J. R. (2008). Synchronizing rock clocks of earth history. Science,320, 500–504.
Lisiecki, L. E., & Raymo, M. E. (2005). A Pliocene–Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography,20, PA1003, doi:10.1029/2004PA001071.
Mochizuki, N., Oda, H., Ishizuka, O., Yamazaki, T., & Tsunakawa, H. (2011). Paleointensity variation across the Matuyama-Brunhes polarity transition: Observations from lavas at Punaruu Valley, Tahiti. Journal of Geophysical Research,116, B06103. doi:10.1029/2010JB008093.
Raisbeck, G. M., Yiou, F., Cattani, O., & Jouzel, J. (2006). 10Be evidence for the Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversal in the EPICA Dome C ice core. Nature,444, 82–84.
Renne, P. R., Mundil, R., Balco, G., Min, K., & Ludwig, K. R. (2010). Joint determination of 40 K decay constants and 40Ar*/40K for the Fish Canyon sanidine standard, and improved accuracy for 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta,74, 5349–5367.
Renne, P. R., Swisher, C. C., Deino, A. L., Karner, D. B., Owens, T. L., & DePaolo, D. J. (1998). Intercalibration of standards, absolute ages and uncertainties in 40Ar/39Ar dating. Chemical Geology,145, 117–152. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541.00159-9.
Singer, B. S., Hoffman, K. A., Coe, R. S., Brown, L. L., Jicha, B. R., Pringle, M. S., et al. (2005). Structural and temporal requirements for geomagnetic field reversal deduced from lava flows. Nature,434, 633–636.
Suganuma, Y., Okuno, J., Heslop, D., Roberts, A. P., Yamazaki, T., & Yokoyama, Y. (2011). Post-depositional remanent magnetization lock-in for marine sediments deduced from Be-10 and paleomagnetic records through the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. Earth Planetary Science Letters,311, 39–52.
Suganuma, Y., Yokoyama, Y., Yamazaki, T., Kawamura, K., Horng, C. S., & Matsuzaki, H. (2010). Be-10 evidence for delayed acquisition of remanent magnetization in marine sediments: Implication for a new age for the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary. Earth Planetary Science Letters,296, 443–450.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Suganuma, Y. (2014). A Reassessment of the Matuyama–Brunhes Boundary Age Based on the Post-depositional Remanent Magnetization (PDRM) Lock-In Effect for Marine Sediments. In: Rocha, R., Pais, J., Kullberg, J., Finney, S. (eds) STRATI 2013. Springer Geology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_184
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_184
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04363-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04364-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)