¹⁴C Wiggle-Matching of the B-Tm Tephra, Baitoushan Volcano, China/North Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT. We performed accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and wiggle-matching of 2 wood samples from charred trunks of trees (samples A and B) collected from an ignimbrite deposit on the northeastern slope of the Baitoushan Volcano on the border of China and North Korea. The obtained calendar years for the eruption are cal AD 945-960 for sample A and cal AD 859-884 and cal AD 935-963 for sample B in the 2- range. These results are unable to determine the precise eruption age. The reason for the difference in reported ages may be due to volcanic gas emission prior to the huge eruption.

Evidence for magmatic carbon bias in 14C dating of the Taupo and other major eruptions

“…Baitoushan-Tianchi inhabited a favourable section of the calibration curve, with pronounced age peaks and troughs at the eruption age. This highlighted the old offsets of wiggles from the calibration curve and led to unsubstantiated speculations about a magmatic carbon bias 50 , 52 . The Rabaul wiggle consisted of only 5 points, anchored by an ambiguous calibration.…”

Climatic impact of the Millennium eruption of Changbaishan volcano in China: New insights from high‐precision radiocarbon wiggle‐match dating

“…(b) Global volcanism record between A.D. 910 and 980 as indicated by stratospherically loaded volcanic sulfate residuals in the GISP2 ice core [data from Zielinski et al ., ]. Horizontal bars depict three previously reported WM 14 C ages of A.D. 935 +8/−5, A.D. 953 +7/−8, and A.D. 921–941 [ Nakamura et al ., ; Yatsuzuka et al ., ; Yin et al ., ] and the best modeled WM age of A.D. 946 ± 3 (or A.D. 940–952 at the 2 σ age range) from this study for the Millennium eruption. Note that no sulfate spike is found to be associated with the Millennium eruption between A.D. 940 and 952.…”

“…The new chronology (A.D. 946 ± 3 or A.D. 940–952) generally agrees well with three formerly reported high‐precision 14 C WM dates for the Millennium eruption: A.D. 935 +8/−5, A.D. 953 +7/−8, and A.D. 921–941 from the sites of Huangsongpu (HSP), Heishigou (HSG), and Hengshan (HSH), respectively, (Figure b) [ Nakamura et al ., ; Yatsuzuka et al ., ; Yin et al ., ]. However, it provides the best age constraint for the eruption in terms of accuracy and precision.…”

“…Conventional 14 C dating of charcoal pieces recovered from the volcanic deposits produced a rather scattering age distribution from A.D. 550 to A.D. 1150, with a modal age around A.D. 1000 [Liu et al, 1998]. The wiggle-match (WM) of sequences of 14 C ages, which were obtained using AMS technique of charred trees (with bark) killed during the eruption, yielded four well-dated ages of A.D. 921-941, A.D. 935 +8/À5, A.D. 953 +7/À8, and A.D. 969 +15/À24 (all reported at the 95.4% confidence level or 2s age range) [Horn and Schmincke, 2000;Nakamura et al, 2007;Yatsuzuka et al, 2010;Yin et al, 2012]. Although these previously reported 14 C ages place the eruption tentatively in the mid 10th century A.D., they do not yet offer any unambiguous and consensus age for this eruption.…”

Verification of the Annual Dating of the 10th Century Baitoushan Volcano Eruption Based on an AD 774–775 Radiocarbon Spike

“…The Baitoushan eruption clearly left traces in the Baegdusan (Baitoushan)-Tomakomai (B-Tm) tephra in the sediments of northern Japan; however, any official records strictly describing the eruptive year have not been found (Machida et al 1990; Machida and Arai 2003; Horn and Schmincke 2000; Sun et al 2014a). Over the past two decades, many chronological studies have attempted to determine the eruptive year (Horn and Schmincke 2000; Okuno et al 2004, 2010; Nakamura et al 2007; Kamite et al 2010; Yatsuzuka et al 2010; Yin et al 2012; Xu et al 2013; Sun et al 2014b). Most of these studies show that the eruptive year was in the 10th century, but the eruptive year was not determined with 1-yr resolution.…”