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Aminochronology and time averaging of Quaternary land snail assemblages from colluvial deposits in the Madeira Archipelago, Portugal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2019

Evan New Open the ORCID record for Evan New [Opens in a new window] ,
Yurena Yanes ,
Robert A.D. Cameron ,
Joshua H. Miller ,
Dinarte Teixeira  and
Darrell S. Kaufman
Evan New*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
Yurena Yanes
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
Robert A.D. Cameron
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
Joshua H. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA
Dinarte Teixeira
Affiliation:
Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation, IP-RAM, Madeira Government, Madeira 9000-715, Portugal LIBRe—Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki 00014, Finland
Darrell S. Kaufman
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, USA
*
*Corresponding author at: Department of Geology, 500 Geology Physics Building, 345 Clifton Court, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. E-mail address: newen@mail.uc.edu (E. New).
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Abstract

Understanding the properties of time averaging (age mixing) in a stratigraphic layer is essential for properly interpreting the paleofauna preserved in the geologic record. This work assesses the age and quantifies the scale and structure of time averaging of land snail-rich colluvial sediments from the Madeira Archipelago (Portugal) by dating individual shells using amino acid racemization calibrated with graphite-target and carbonate-target accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon methods. Gastropod shells of Actinella nitidiuscula were collected from seven sites on the volcanic islands of Bugio and Deserta Grande (Desertas Islands), where snail shells are abundant and well preserved in Quaternary colluvial deposits. Results show that the shells ranged in age from modern to ~48 cal ka BP (calibrated radiocarbon age), covering the last glacial and present interglacial periods. Snail shells retrieved from two of the colluvial sites exhibit multimillennial age mixing (>6 ka), which significantly exceeds the analytical error from dating methods and calibration. The observed multimillennial mixing of these assemblages should be taking into consideration in upcoming paleoenvironmental and paleoecological studies in the region. The extent of age mixing may also inform about the time span of colluvial deposition, which can be useful in future geomorphological studies. In addition, this study presents the first carbonate-target radiocarbon results for land snail shells and suggests that this novel, rapid, and more affordable dating method offers reliable age estimates for small land snail shells younger than ~20 cal ka BP.

Keywords

Age mixingAmino acid racemizationCarbonate-target 14C datingLand snailsQuaternaryDesertas Islands
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 92 , Issue 2 , September 2019 , pp. 483 - 496
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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