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Extraction and AMS radiocarbon dating of pollen from Lake Baikal sediments.

Natalia Piotrowska, Andrzej Bluszcz, Dieter Demske, Wojciech Granoszewski, Georg Heumann

Abstract


This work focuses on the preparation and dating of sporomorph (pollen and spores) concentrates of high purity. Three sediment cores recovered from Lake Baikal within the EU-Project CONTINENT were subjected to palynological analyses and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating. Laboratory processing of concentrates was aimed at the removal of non-sporomorph organic matter by means of chemical treatment, micro-sieving, and heavy liquid separation. The obtained concentrates were checked under the microscope and sample purity was estimated on the basis of particle counts. The results of AMS (super 14) C dating show differences in the sedimentation rate among 3 sites of Lake Baikal.

Keywords


absolute age;accelerator mass spectra;Asia ;C 13 C 12;C 14;calibration ;carbon ;Cenozoic ;Commonwealth of Independent States;cores ;correlation ;dates ;graphite ;Holocene ;isotope ratios;isotopes ;lacustrine environment;Lake Baikal;lake sediments;late glacial environment;mass spectra;microfossils ;miospores ;native elements;palynomorphs ;pollen ;Quaternary ;radioactive isotopes;Russian Federation;sample preparation;sedimentation ;sedimentation rates;sediments ;Siberia ;southeastern Siberia;spectra ;spores ;stable isotopes

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