Cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al ages of Holocene moraines in southern Norway I: testing the method and confirmation of the date of the Erdalen Event ( c . 10 ka) at its type-site
Available accessResearch articleFirst published online December, 2008
Cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al ages of Holocene moraines in southern Norway I: testing the method and confirmation of the date of the Erdalen Event ( c . 10 ka) at its type-site
Abstract: Cosmogenic nuclide dating (10Be and 26Al) is applied to boulders on two moraine ridges at the type-site of the early-Holocene Erdalen Event, southern Norway, dated previously using radiocarbon. Quartz-rich rock samples yielded 10Be age estimates between 9.8 ± 1.2 and 10.1 ± 1.1 ka (external uncertainties, ± 1σ), with an average of 9.95 ka. These age estimates are statistically indistinguishable from the independent radiocarbon age estimate. 26Al age estimates, which ranged from 9.4 ± 1.1 to 11.2 ± 1.3 ka and averaged 10.1 ka, provided useful corroboration of the 10Be results. Although current levels of precision and accuracy are insufficient to distinguish between the ages of younger inner and older outer moraines, the results demonstrate the potential of the method at suitable sites where radiocarbon dating is not possible. Several environmental factors, including effective glacial erosion, stability of moraine slopes, snow cover of sufficiently shallow depth and short duration, and the absence of colluvial contamination, appear to have been instrumental in the success of applying the method at this site. The results confirm the timing and extent of the Erdalen Event in southern Norway with implications for Holocene glacier chronology and millennial-scale climatic variability.
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