Revealing the pace of river landscape evolution during the Quaternary: recent developments in numerical dating methods

Gilles Rixhon, Rebecca M. Briant, Stéphane Cordier, Mathieu Duval, Anna Jones, Denis Scholz

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    63 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    During the last twenty years, several technical developments have considerably intensified the use of numerical dating methods for the Quaternary. The study of fluvial archives greatly benefited from these enhancements, opening new dating horizons for a range of archives at distinct time scales and thereby providing new insights into previously unanswered questions. In this contribution, we separately present the state of the art of five numerical dating methods that are frequently used in the fluvial context: radiocarbon, Luminescence, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), 230Th/U and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) dating. We focus on the major recent developments for each technique that are most relevant for new dating applications in diverse fluvial environments and on explaining these for non-specialists. Therefore, essential information and precautions about sampling strategies in the field and/or laboratory procedures are provided. For each method, new and important implications for chronological reconstructions of Quaternary fluvial landscapes are discussed and, where necessary, exemplified by key case studies. A clear statement of the current technical limitations of these methods is included and forthcoming developments, which might possibly open new horizons for dating fluvial archives in the near future, are summarised.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)91-113
    JournalQuaternary Science Reviews
    Volume166
    Early online date15 Sept 2016
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 15 Sept 2016

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