Abstract
Because ombrotrophic peat bogs receive inputs of water, nutrients, pollutants, and xerobiotic materials solely from the atmosphere, and accumulate organic matter vertically, dated peat cores can provide a historical record of deposition. We propose a novel method for accurately determining dates of peat, based on cosmogenic 10Be. In a laboratory study, we document limited post-depositional mobility of atmospherically-deposited Be, a requisite for 10Be dating. We provide an example of how the 210Pb-dated upper portion of a peat core can be used to back-calculate a site-specific 10Be deposition rate, which can then be used to estimate dates for peat throughout a core, and also discuss limitations to the application of cosmogenic 10Be to the dating of peat deposits.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National Science Foundation grant DEB-9985855 and by a Purdue University PRIME Laboratory Seed Grant (for a portion of the 10Be analyses).
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Wieder, R.K., Vile, M.A. & Scott, K.D. Cosmogenic 10Be as a potential dating tool in peat. Biogeochemistry 101, 177–182 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9468-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-010-9468-8