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Age Dating and the Orbital Theory of the Ice Ages: Development of a High-Resolution 0 to 300,000-Year Chronostratigraphy1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Douglas G. Martinson ,
Nicklas G. Pisias ,
James D. Hays ,
John Imbrie ,
Theodore C. Moore Jr.  and
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Douglas G. Martinson
Affiliation:
Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964 Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027
Nicklas G. Pisias
Affiliation:
College of Oceanography, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331
James D. Hays
Affiliation:
Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964 Department of Geological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027
John Imbrie
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912
Theodore C. Moore Jr.
Affiliation:
Exxon Production Research, Houston, Texas 77001
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Affiliation:
Sub-Department of Quaternary Research, The Godwin Laboratory, Free School Lane, Cambridge, England CB2 3RS
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Abstract

Using the concept of “orbital tuning”, a continuous, high-resolution deep-sea chronostratigraphy has been developed spanning the last 300,000 yr. The chronology is developed using a stacked oxygen-isotope stratigraphy and four different orbital tuning approaches, each of which is based upon a different assumption concerning the response of the orbital signal recorded in the data. Each approach yields a separate chronology. The error measured by the standard deviation about the average of these four results (which represents the “best” chronology) has an average magnitude of only 2500 yr. This small value indicates that the chronology produced is insensitive to the specific orbital tuning technique used. Excellent convergence between chronologies developed using each of five different paleoclimatological indicators (from a single core) is also obtained. The resultant chronology is also insensitive to the specific indicator used. The error associated with each tuning approach is estimated independently and propagated through to the average result. The resulting error estimate is independent of that associated with the degree of convergence and has an average magnitude of 3500 yr, in excellent agreement with the 2500-yr estimate. Transfer of the final chronology to the stacked record leads to an estimated error of ±1500 yr. Thus the final chronology has an average error of ±5000 yr.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 1987 , pp. 1 - 29
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

1

LDGO Contribution Number 3994.

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