A new method to constrain soil development time using both OSL and radiocarbon dating

Abstract The time over which a soil has developed since the parent materials were deposited and subaerially exposed, referred to here as soil development time, is of considerable interest to pedologists, geomorphologists, geologists, archeologist, and paleoclimatologists. Soil development time has been estimated both indirectly, based on the degree of soil development, and directly, by radiocarbon dating of soil organic matter, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of parent material deposition, and through exposure dating using cosmogenic nuclides. Here we propose a new model for estimating the soil development time by subtracting the low molecular weight (LMW) or pyrolysis-volatile 14C age of the uppermost A horizon of a soil from the OSL age of the C horizon of the parent material [soil time = OSL age(parent C horizon) − 14C age(LMW fraction of uppermost A horizon)]. The LMW organic compound fraction represents the most mobile carbon compounds in the soil organic carbon pool, and is least resistant to physical, chemical, and biodegradation in the soil environment, potentially yielding the youngest 14C age. OSL dating of the C horizon provides an estimate of the time since deposition of unconsolidated parent material. Thus, the difference in the two ages can be used to estimate the time that has elapsed for pedogenic alteration from deposition of the parent material to the most recent additions of soil organic carbon. We applied this new approach in four scenarios: (1) in a modern soil that developed downward in loess; (2) in a buried soil developed in aggrading loess (a cumulative soil which grows upward); (3) in a buried soil formed in dune sand; and (4) in a counterexample showing that simple subtraction is not always appropriate because of changes in soil's parent materials from loess to sand. These case studies reveal that this approach constrains soil development time more reasonably than can be commonly done with either OSL or radiocarbon dating alone. The difference in 14C ages between the uppermost and lowermost sola of a soil profile almost certainly underestimates the time of soil development, and the difference in OSL ages taken from sediment units overlying and underlying a buried soil most likely overestimates it. A combination of OSL and radiocarbon dating better constrains soil development time, broadening the applications of these two dating methods beyond their use for cross-checking the accuracy of the other dating method.

[1]  A. Stumpf,et al.  Atmospheric changes in North America during the last deglaciation from dune-wetland records in the Midwestern United States , 2012 .

[2]  Understanding Soil Time , 2008, Science.

[3]  K. Nierop,et al.  Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating based chronology of a polycyclic driftsand sequence at Weerterbergen (SE Netherlands) , 2010 .

[4]  S. Harlan,et al.  Chronology and provenance of last-glacial (peoria) loess in western iowa and paleoclimatic implications , 2013, Quaternary Research.

[5]  T. Higashi,et al.  Application of cosmogenic 10Be to dating soils on the raised coral reef terraces of Kikai Island, southwest Japan , 2005 .

[6]  J. Klein,et al.  10Be accumulation in a soil chronosequence , 1984 .

[7]  J. Mason,et al.  Loess record of dry climate and aeolian activity in the early-to mid-Holocene, central Great Plains, North America , 2005 .

[8]  Hong Wang,et al.  High-resolution proxy record of Holocene climate from a loess section in Southwestern Nebraska, USA , 2007 .

[9]  Christopher Bronk Ramsey,et al.  BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF RADIOCARBON DATES , 2009 .

[10]  D. Leigh.  Soil chronosequence of brasstown creek, Blue Ridge mountains, USA , 1996 .

[11]  R. Joeckel,et al.  Megadroughts and late Holocene dune activation at the eastern margin of the Great Plains, north-central Kansas, USA , 2010 .

[12]  Charles W. Martin,et al.  Variation in Radiocarbon Ages of Soil Organic Matter Fractions from Late Quaternary Buried Soils , 1995, Quaternary Research.

[13]  C. Buck,et al.  IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP , 2013, Radiocarbon.

[14]  Xiao-dong Liu,et al.  A 10,000 year record of dune activity, dust storms, and severe drought in the central Great Plains , 2007 .

[15]  J. Mason,et al.  Dune mobility and aridity at the desert margin of northern China at a time of peak monsoon strength , 2009 .

[16]  Rex Galbraith,et al.  Statistical aspects of equivalent dose and error calculation and display in OSL dating: An overview and some recommendations , 2012 .

[17]  J. Mason,et al.  Impact of Holocene dust aggradation on A horizon characteristics and carbon storage in loess-derived Mollisols of the Great Plains, USA , 2005 .

[18]  Hong Wang,et al.  Pyrolysis-combustion 14C dating of soil organic matter , 2003, Quaternary Research.

[19]  J. Mason,et al.  Late Quaternary climate change, loess sedimentation, and soil profile development in the central Great Plains: A pedosedimentary model , 2007 .

[20]  W. C. Johnson,et al.  Isotopic and rock magnetic expression of environmental change at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the central Great Plains , 2000 .

[21]  A. Murray,et al.  Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single aliquot regenerative-dose protocol , 2000 .

[22]  J. Harden.  A quantitative index of soil development from field descriptions: Examples from a chronosequence in central California , 1982 .

[23]  J. McCalpin,et al.  Soil catenas to estimate ages of movements on normal fault scarps, with an example from the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, USA , 1996 .

[24]  Christopher Bronk Ramsey,et al.  DEVELOPMENT OF THE RADIOCARBON CALIBRATION PROGRAM , 2001 .

[25]  H. R. Mount.  Soil survey of Champaign County, Illinois , 1982 .

[26]  J. Feathers,et al.  An introduction to optical dating , 2000 .

[27]  P. Kubik,et al.  10Be inventories in Alpine soils and their potential for dating land surfaces. , 2010 .

[28]  H. Jenny,et al.  The soil resource. Origin and behavior , 1983, Vegetatio.

[29]  S. L. Yang,et al.  Stacked 2.6‐Ma grain size record from the Chinese loess based on five sections and correlation with the deep‐sea δ18O record , 2002 .

[30]  D. S. Jenkinson,et al.  THE TURNOVER OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER IN SOME OF THE ROTHAMSTED CLASSICAL EXPERIMENTS , 1977 .

[31]  A. Murray,et al.  The single aliquot regenerative dose protocol: potential for improvements in reliability , 2003 .

[32]  D. Richter,et al.  Coupling meteoric 10Be with pedogenic losses of 9Be to improve soil residence time estimates on an ancient North American interfluve , 2012 .

[33]  A. Wintle,et al.  Unprecedented last-glacial mass accumulation rates determined by luminescence dating of loess from western Nebraska , 2003, Quaternary Research.

[34]  R. Amundson,et al.  Radiocarbon Dating of Soil Organic Matter , 1996, Quaternary Research.

[35]  Hong Wang,et al.  Soil carbon source and accumulation over 12,000years in a semi-natural Miscanthus sinensis grassland in southern Japan , 2013 .

[36]  C. Frederick,et al.  Preserving the palaeoenvironmental record in Drylands: Bioturbation and its significance for luminescence-derived chronologies , 2007 .

[37]  S. Clemens,et al.  Impacts of post-depositional processes on rapid monsoon signals recorded by the last glacial loess deposits of northern China , 2010 .

[38]  G. Kukla.  Loess stratigraphy in central China , 1987 .

[39]  B. Elberling,et al.  Soil development rates from an optically stimulated luminescence-dated beach ridge sequence in Northern Jutland, Denmark. , 2010 .

[40]  H. Jenny.  Factors of Soil Formation: A System of Quantitative Pedology , 2011 .

[41]  Thomas Stevens,et al.  Optically stimulated luminescence dating as a tool for calculating sedimentation rates in Chinese loess: comparisons with grain‐size records , 2009 .

[42]  J. Mason,et al.  Evidence for bioturbation of luminescence signals in eolian sand on upland ridgetops, southeastern Minnesota, USA , 2015 .

[43]  J. Mason,et al.  Loess record of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition on the northern and central Great Plains, USA , 2008 .

[44]  Hong Wang,et al.  Timing and origin for sand dunes in the Green River Lowland of Illinois, upper Mississippi River Valley, USA , 2010 .

[45]  M. L. W. Thewalt,et al.  Optical dating of sediments , 1985, Nature.

[46]  J. Mason,et al.  Optical and radiocarbon ages of stacked paleosols and dune sands in the Nebraska Sand Hills, USA , 2004 .

[47]  D. M. Nelson,et al.  The magnitude of error in conventional bulk-sediment radiocarbon dates from central North America , 2009, Quaternary Research.

[48]  R. E. Hughes,et al.  Modern, Sangamon and Yarmouth soil development in loess of unglaciated southwestern Illinois , 2003 .

[49]  G. Kukla.  Loess stratigraphy in central China , 1987 .

[50]  J. Mason,et al.  Sources and paleoclimatic significance of Holocene Bignell Loess, central Great Plains, USA , 2003, Quaternary Research.