Chronostratigraphy of eastern Mediterranen Sea sediment cores

An Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C dated multiparameter event stratigraphy is developed for the Aegean Sea on the basis of highly resolved (centimeter to subcentimeter) multiproxy data collected from four late glacial to Holocene sediment cores. We quantify the degree of proportionality and synchroneity of sediment accumulation in these cores and use this framework to optimize the confidence levels in regional marine, radiocarbon-based chronostratigraphies. The applicability of the framework to published, lower-resolution records from the Aegean Sea is assessed. Next this is extended into the wider eastern Mediterranean, using new and previously published high-resolution data from the northern Levantine and Adriatic cores. We determine that the magnitude of uncertainties in the intercore comparison of AMS 14C datings based on planktonic foraminifera in the eastern Mediterranean is of the order of ±240 years (2 SE). These uncertainties are attributed to synsedimentary and postsedimentary processes that affect the materials dated. This study also offers a background age control that allows for vital refinements to radiocarbon-based chronostratigraphy in the eastern Mediterranean, with the potential for similar frameworks to be developed for any other well-studied region.

本研究基于从4根晚冰期至全新世沉积物岩芯中采集的厘米至亚厘米级高分辨率多代理数据，为爱琴海构建了经加速器质谱（Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, AMS）碳十四（¹⁴C）定年的多参数事件地层学框架。本研究量化了这些岩芯中沉积物堆积的比例一致性与同步性程度，并以此框架优化了基于碳十四定年的区域海洋年代地层学的置信水平。同时评估了该框架对已发表的爱琴海低分辨率记录的适用性。随后，借助黎凡特北部与亚得里亚海岩芯的新发布及已发表高分辨率数据，将该框架拓展至东地中海更广海域。本研究确定，东地中海基于浮游有孔虫（planktonic foraminifera）的AMS碳十四定年的岩芯间对比不确定性量级约为±240年（2倍标准误，2 SE）。该不确定性源于影响定年样品的沉积同生期与沉积期后过程。本研究同时为东地中海基于碳十四定年的年代地层学提供了可进行重要修正的年龄控制背景，且该框架有望在其他研究充分的区域推广应用。