Possibilities for Reconstructing Radiocarbon Level Changes During the Late Glacial by Using a Laminated Sequence of Gościaż Lake

Laminated sediments of Gościaż Lake can be used as an independent source of material for calibrating the radiocarbon time scale. The varve chronology is based on three long cores from the deepest part of the lake, with one additional core from the second deepest part. From pollen and Cladocera spectra and stable isotope and chemical content sequences, we have determined the Allerød(AL)/Younger Dryas(YD) and Younger Dryas/Preboreal(PB) boundaries in the three long cores with relatively good accuracy, and have tentatively defined the AL/YD boundary in the fourth core. The Younger Dryas period contains at least 1520 varves, with 980 varves in fragments well replicated in all four cores. The duration of the Younger Dryas as recorded in sediments of Gościaż Lake corresponds well to the duration derived from 230Th/234U and 14C dates on Barbados corals, but disagrees with estimates from Soppensee, Lake Holzmaar and Swedish varves. Two AMS dates of terrestrial macrofossils from the PB and YD periods seem to fit both the data obtained for Swiss lake sediments and Barbados corals.