Geochronological database and classification system for age uncertainties in Neotropical pollen records

Abstract

Abstract. The newly updated inventory of palaeoecological research in Latin America offers an important overview of sites available for multi-proxy and multi-site purposes. From the collected literature supporting this inventory, we collected all available age model metadata to create a chronological database of 5116 control points (e.g. 14C, tephra, fission track, OSL, 210Pb) from 1097 pollen records. Based on this literature review, we present a summary of chronological dating and reporting in the Neotropics. Difficulties and recommendations for chronology reporting are discussed. Furthermore, for 234 pollen records in northwest South America, a classification system for age uncertainties is implemented based on chronologies generated with updated calibration curves. With these outcomes age models are produced for those sites without an existing chronology, alternative age models are provided for researchers interested in comparing the effects of different calibration curves and age–depth modelling software, and the importance of uncertainty assessments of chronologies is highlighted. Sample resolution and temporal uncertainty of ages are discussed for different time windows, focusing on events relevant for research on centennial- to millennial-scale climate variability. All age models and developed R scripts are publicly available through figshare, including a manual to use the scripts.

Climate variability and human impact in South America during the last 2000 years: synthesis and perspectives from pollen records

“…However, to integrate records from different sedimentary archives across SA, a standard chronological framework is required. To this end an alternative recalibrated age model and evaluation of chronologies have been undertaken to facilitate the integration of multi-proxy records in SA (Flantua et al, 2016). However, multi-proxy climate reconstructions from the last 2 kyr have hitherto been focused mainly on southern SA (PAGES-2k Consortium, 2013), omitting input from the northern two thirds of the continent.…”

“…A chronology database focused on tephra control points could support current chronology constraints and improve comparison between records. The recent geochronological database within the LAPD can support such a multi-proxy approach for palaeoecological integration (Flantua et al, 2016). 7.…”

Holocene vegetation dynamics on the Apakará summit of the neotropical Guayana Highlands and potential environmental drivers

“…Therefore, the better suited sites for paleoecological study atop the tepuis are those situated close to altitudinal ecotones, as they are more sensitive to eventual vertical vegetation shifts driven by environmental changes (Rull et al, 2011;Rull, 2015). This paper represents a new contribution to the Latin American Pollen Database (LAPD), which has been recently improved and updated (Flantua et al, 2015(Flantua et al, , 2016a to optimize continental paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Also, charcoal data could contribute to fill a geographical gap in the charcoal database for the South American tropics.…”

Climate variability and human impact on the environment in South America during the last 2000 years: synthesis and perspectives

“…A chronology database focused on tephra control points could support current chronology constraints and improve comparison between records. The recent geochronological database within the LAPD can support such a multi-proxy approach for palaeoecological integration (Flantua et al, 2016).…”