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Moore CR, Brooks MJ, Dunbar JS, Hemmings CA, Langworthy KA, West A, LeCompte MA, Adedeji V, Kennett JP, Feathers JK. Platinum and microspherule peaks as chronostratigraphic markers for onset of the Younger Dryas at Wakulla Springs, Florida. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22738. [PMID: 38123649 PMCID: PMC10733423 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50074-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Anomalous peak abundances of platinum and Fe-rich microspherules with high-temperature minerals have previously been demonstrated to be a chronostratigraphic marker for the lower Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB) dating to 12.8 ka. This study used Bayesian analyses to test this hypothesis in multiple sequences (units) of sandy, weakly stratified sediments at Wakulla Springs, Florida. Our investigations included platinum geochemistry, granulometry, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and culturally dated lithics. In addition, sediments were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to investigate dendritic, iron-rich microspherules previously identified elsewhere in peak abundances at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) cool climatic episode. Our work has revealed this abundance peak in platinum and dendritic spherules in five sediment sequences at Wakulla Springs. A YDB age of ~ 12.8 ka for the platinum and spherule chronostratigraphic datum in these Wakulla Springs sequences is consistent with the archaeological data and OSL dating. This study confirms the utility of this YDB datum layer for intersequence correlation and for assessing relative ages of Paleoamerican artifacts, including those of likely Clovis, pre-Clovis, and post-Clovis age and their possible responses to environmental changes known to have occurred during the Younger Dryas cool climatic episode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher R Moore
- South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, P.O. Box 400, New Ellenton, SC, 29809, USA.
| | - Mark J Brooks
- South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, P.O. Box 400, New Ellenton, SC, 29809, USA
| | - James S Dunbar
- Aucilla Research Institute Inc., 555 North Jefferson Street, Monticello, FL, 32344, USA
| | - C Andrew Hemmings
- Aucilla Research Institute Inc., 555 North Jefferson Street, Monticello, FL, 32344, USA
| | - Kurt A Langworthy
- CAMCOR, University of Oregon, 1443 E 13Th Ave, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA
| | | | - Malcolm A LeCompte
- Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909, USA
| | - Victor Adedeji
- Department of Natural Sciences, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909, USA
| | - James P Kennett
- Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - James K Feathers
- Luminescence Dating Laboratory, University of Washington, 125 Raitt Hall, Seattle, WA, 98195-3412, USA
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Bunch TE, LeCompte MA, Adedeji AV, Wittke JH, Burleigh TD, Hermes RE, Mooney C, Batchelor D, Wolbach WS, Kathan J, Kletetschka G, Patterson MCL, Swindel EC, Witwer T, Howard GA, Mitra S, Moore CR, Langworthy K, Kennett JP, West A, Silvia PJ. Author Correction: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8280. [PMID: 37217562 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35266-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ted E Bunch
- Geology Program, School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
| | - Malcolm A LeCompte
- Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909, USA
| | - A Victor Adedeji
- Department of Natural Sciences, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909, USA
| | - James H Wittke
- Geology Program, School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
| | - T David Burleigh
- Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, New Mexico Institute On Mining & Technology, Socorro, NM, 87801, USA
| | - Robert E Hermes
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (Retired), Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA
| | - Charles Mooney
- Analytical Instrumentation Facility, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Dale Batchelor
- EAG Laboratories, Eurofins Materials Science, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA
| | - Wendy S Wolbach
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Joel Kathan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Gunther Kletetschka
- Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 903 Koyukuk Drive, College, AK, 99775, USA
- Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, Prague, 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Mark C L Patterson
- Southern Research Institute, 757 Tom Martin Drive, Birmingham, AL, 35211, USA
| | | | | | | | - Siddhartha Mitra
- Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA
| | - Christopher R Moore
- Savannah River Archaeological Research Program, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, New Ellenton, SC, 29809, USA
| | - Kurt Langworthy
- CAMCOR, University of Oregon, 1443 E 13th Ave, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA
| | - James P Kennett
- Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Allen West
- Comet Research Group, Prescott, AZ, 86301, USA.
| | - Phillip J Silvia
- College of Archaeology, Trinity Southwest University, Albuquerque, NM, 87109, USA
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Wu Y, Sharma M, LeCompte MA, Demitroff MN, Landis JD. Origin and provenance of spherules and magnetic grains at the Younger Dryas boundary. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:E3557-66. [PMID: 24009337 PMCID: PMC3780899 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1304059110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
One or more bolide impacts are hypothesized to have triggered the Younger Dryas cooling at ∼12.9 ka. In support of this hypothesis, varying peak abundances of magnetic grains with iridium and magnetic microspherules have been reported at the Younger Dryas boundary (YDB). We show that bulk sediment and/or magnetic grains/microspherules collected from the YDB sites in Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Ohio have (187)Os/(188)Os ratios ≥1.0, similar to average upper continental crust (= 1.3), indicating a terrestrial origin of osmium (Os) in these samples. In contrast, bulk sediments from YDB sites in Belgium and Pennsylvania exhibit (187)Os/(188)Os ratios <<1.0 and at face value suggest mixing with extraterrestrial Os with (187)Os/(188)Os of ∼0.13. However, the Os concentration in bulk sample and magnetic grains from Belgium is 2.8 pg/g and 15 pg/g, respectively, much lower than that in average upper continental crust (=31 pg/g), indicating no meteoritic contribution. The YDB site in Pennsylvania is remarkable in yielding 2- to 5-mm diameter spherules containing minerals such as suessite (Fe-Ni silicide) that form at temperatures in excess of 2000 °C. Gross texture, mineralogy, and age of the spherules appear consistent with their formation as ejecta from an impact 12.9 ka ago. The (187)Os/(188)Os ratios of the spherules and their leachates are often low, but Os in these objects is likely terrestrially derived. The rare earth element patterns and Sr and Nd isotopes of the spherules indicate that their source lies in 1.5-Ga Quebecia terrain in the Grenville Province of northeastern North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingzhe Wu
- Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755
| | - Mukul Sharma
- Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755
| | - Malcolm A. LeCompte
- Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC 27909; and
| | | | - Joshua D. Landis
- Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755
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