Prof Christopher Ramsey

Abstract:

Radiocarbon (14C) concentrations in the oceans are different from those in the atmosphere. Understanding these ocean-atmospheric 14C differences is important both to estimate the calendar ages of samples which obtained their 14C in the marine environment, and to investigate the carbon cycle. The Marine20 radiocarbon age calibration curve is created to address these dual aims by providing a global-scale surface ocean record of radiocarbon from 55,000–0 cal yr BP that accounts for the smoothed response of the ocean to variations in atmospheric 14C production rates and factors out the effect of known changes in global-scale palaeoclimatic variables. The curve also serves as a baseline to study regional oceanic 14C variation. Marine20 offers substantial improvements over the previous Marine13 curve. In response to community questions, we provide a short intuitive guide, intended for the lay-reader, on the construction and use of the Marine20 calibration curve. We describe the choices behind the making of Marine20, as well as the similarities and differences compared with the earlier Marine calibration curves. We also describe how to use the Marine20 curve for calibration and how to estimate ΔR—the localized variation in the oceanic 14C levels due to regional factors which are not incorporated in the global-scale Marine20 curve. To aid understanding, illustrative worked examples are provided.

Abstract:

Despite more than half a century of hominin fossil discoveries in eastern Africa, the regional environmental context of hominin evolution and dispersal is not well established due to the lack of continuous palaeoenvironmental records from one of the proven habitats of early human populations, particularly for the Pleistocene epoch. Here we present a 620,000-year environmental record from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia, which is proximal to key fossil sites. Our record documents the potential influence of different episodes of climatic variability on hominin biological and cultural transformation. The appearance of high anatomical diversity in hominin groups coincides with long-lasting and relatively stable humid conditions from ~620,000 to 275,000 years bp (episodes 1-6), interrupted by several abrupt and extreme hydroclimate perturbations. A pattern of pronounced climatic cyclicity transformed habitats during episodes 7-9 (~275,000-60,000 years bp), a crucial phase encompassing the gradual transition from Acheulean to Middle Stone Age technologies, the emergence of <i>Homo sapiens</i> in eastern Africa and key human social and cultural innovations. Those accumulative innovations plus the alignment of humid pulses between northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean during high-frequency climate oscillations of episodes 10-12 (~60,000-10,000 years bp) could have facilitated the global dispersal of <i>H. sapiens</i>.

Abstract:

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The North Atlantic region experienced abrupt high-amplitude cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas stadial. However, due to chronological uncertainties in the available terrestrial records it is unclear whether terrestrial ecosystem response to this event was instantaneous and spatially synchronous, or whether regional or time-transgressive lags existed. Here we use new palynological results from a robustly dated lake sediment sequence retrieved from lake Hämelsee (north Germany) to show that vegetation change started at 12,820 cal. yr BP, concurrent with the onset of changes in local climate. A comparison of the Hämelsee results to a compilation of precisely dated palynological records shows instant and, within decadal-scale dating uncertainty, synchronous response of the terrestrial plant community to Late-Glacial climate change across northwest Europe. The results indicate that the environmental impact of climate cooling was more severe than previously thought and illustrates the sensitivity of natural terrestrial ecosystems to external forcing.</jats:p>

Abstract:

Geomagnetic excursions represent the dynamic nature of the geodynamo. Accumulated palaeomagnetic records indicate that such excursions are dominated by dipolar-fields, but exhibit different structures. Here we report a palaeomagnetic record from the varved sediments of Lake Suigetsu, central Japan, which reveals fine structures in the Laschamp Excursion and a new post-Laschamp excursion that coincides with the Δ14C maxima. The record’s high-resolution chronology provides IntCal20 mid-ages and varve-counted durations. Both excursions comprise multiple subcentennial directional-swings. Simulations of filtering effects on sediment-magnetisations demonstrate that this high-resolution record replicates most of the features in existing, lower-resolution Laschamp excursion records, including the apparent clockwise open-loop of the virtual geomagnetic pole pass. The virtual geomagnetic poles during the ‘swing’ phases make four clusters centred in hemispherically-symmetric regions, three of which encompass the virtual geomagnetic poles associated with the Laschamp Excursion recorded in lavas at various locations. The stationary dipolar-field sources under each cluster should have intermittently dominated one after another during the excursions.