OSL chronology for a sediment core from the southern Baltic Sea: A continuous sedimentation record since deglaciation

doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2006.05.036

Quaternary Geochronology

Volume 2, Issues 1–4, 2007, Pages 95-101

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2006.05.036 Get rights and content

Abstract

A chronology based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is presented for the late- and post-glacial evolution of the southern Baltic Sea (∼15 ka to present). During this period, large water level and salinity changes occurred in the Baltic Basin due to opening and closing of connections to the North Atlantic. Previous attempts to establish a chronology for these palaeoenvironmental changes have mainly been conducted in coastal settings where organic material for ¹⁴C dating is abundant. Many of these records are, however, discontinuous due to the large water level fluctuations. In contrast, in the relatively deep water of the Arkona Basin, the sediment record is expected to be more or less continuous. The single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) procedure was used to date 32 samples of fine quartz sand from a 10.86 m long sediment core from the centre of this basin (45 m water depth). Tests of luminescence characteristics confirmed the suitability of the material for OSL dating and the ages agree well with the available AMS ¹⁴C ages on shells. The Baltic Ice Lake drainage to the North Atlantic appears to occur ∼11.6 ka, agreeing with other published evidence. However, we suggest that the main marine Littorina transgression appears in the Arkona Basin at about 6.5 ka, rather than at 8.5 ka, as previously thought.

Introduction

The post-glacial history of the Baltic Sea is characterized by large water level and salinity changes as a result of the opening and closing of the connections between the Baltic Basin and the North Atlantic. Previous attempts to date these events in the southern Baltic have mainly been conducted in coastal settings where organic material for ¹⁴C dating is abundant. Many of these records are, however, discontinuous due to the large water level fluctuations that occurred as the marine connections opened and closed. In contrast, the sediment record in the 45 m deep Arkona Basin is thought to be continuous. A succession of deep bedrock defined basins, possibly glacially scoured, is a conspicuous feature of the Baltic Sea bathymetry. The Arkona Basin is the most southwestern of these basins deep enough to expect sedimentation to have been continuous since deglaciation. Because it is close to the shallow inlet area of the Danish and Swedish straits, it is an excellent location for studying post-glacial circulation changes in the southern Baltic Sea. However, few studies have been carried out in this region, partly because low organic carbon content and a lack of macrofossils restricted dating of these sediment records. For these reasons, the palaeoenvironmental records from the deeper basins in the Baltic Sea are based on bulk ¹⁴C ages, with the associated problems of contamination by old reworked carbon. Here, we present a chronology for a long sediment core from the Arkona Basin based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating (see Fig. 1). By dating 32 quartz samples from this sediment sequence, we are able to develop an age–depth relationship for the entire core, spanning ∼15 ka to the present.

Section snippets

Site description

The Arkona Basin is the deepest basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea and is considered to be one of the key areas able to provide new insights into the timing of different events in the Baltic Basin history. The present study is based on a 10.86 m long sediment core from the centre of the Arkona Basin (45 m water depth). The core does not show any visible erosional disconformities and based on many stratigraphic parameters (Kortekaas, unpublished), it appears to consist of a continuous sediment

Sample preparation

The 12 cm diameter gravity core (242790) was recovered from 54°951′N and 13°780′E (Fig. 1) by the German research vessel R/V Poseidon in 2002 and stored at 4 °C. After opening the core in March 2003, OSL samples were taken from one half of the core under subdued amber light conditions. Depending on the sand content (up to 20%), slices of depth between 2 and 10 cm were taken. The outer 1.5 cm from the face of the split core and the contact with the core liner were discarded to avoid contamination

Luminescence characteristics

Typical natural and regenerative stimulation decay curves are shown in the inset to Fig. 3. Within the first second of optical stimulation, the signal is reduced to about one-third of the initial level, indicating that the signal is dominated by the fast component. Fig. 3 shows a typical growth curve, showing that the sensitivity corrected natural signals intercept the curve well below saturation. Recycling points (open circles) were measured for the 1st and 7th regenerative doses. The average

Results

Table 1 shows the D_e, age, radionuclide concentrations, dose rate and water content for each sample. The sediment was saturated throughout the burial period and the observed (still saturated) water content variations are closely related to grain size and sediment type (as described in Section 2). The OSL ages are plotted against depth in Fig. 7, and compared with independent age control. The agreement between the OSL ages and ¹⁴C ages on bivalves is good, while most of the bulk ¹⁴C ages appear

Conclusion

Our study has shown that the application of OSL dating to marine sediments in the Baltic Sea has great potential. It is likely that sediment sequences from deeper basins can now be accurately dated, despite a lack of organic material. Based on the succession of OSL ages, our core appears to be a record of continuous sedimentation without any major erosional hiatuses. Comparison of OSL ages with ¹⁴C ages shows good agreement, provided that the ¹⁴C ages were performed on macrofossils (in our

Acknowledgments

The A NorFA mobility scholarship (Ref. No. 040113) enabled M. Kortekaas’ stay at Risø. The Royal Physiographical Society in Lund provided funding for ¹⁴C dating. The sediment core was obtained from the Institute of Baltic Sea Research (IOW), Warnemünde, Germany. We thank an anonymous reviewer for constructive comments.

Editorial handling by: R. Grün

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Citation Excerpt :
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Research paperOSL chronology for a sediment core from the southern Baltic Sea: A continuous sedimentation record since deglaciation

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Site description

Sample preparation

Luminescence characteristics

Results

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Quaternary International

Radiation Measurements

Marine Geology

Radiation Measurements

Radiation Measurements

Synchronized terrestrial–atmospheric deglacial records around the North Atlantic

Science

Research paper
OSL chronology for a sediment core from the southern Baltic Sea: A continuous sedimentation record since deglaciation