title: Bayesian chronological analyses consistent with synchronous age of 12,835-12,735 Cal B.P. for Younger Dryas boundary on four continents.
abstract: The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis posits that a cosmic impact across much of the Northern Hemisphere deposited the Younger Dryas boundary (YDB) layer, containing peak abundances in a variable assemblage of proxies, including magnetic and glassy impact-related spherules, high-temperature minerals and melt glass, nanodiamonds, carbon spherules, aciniform carbon, platinum, and osmium. Bayesian chronological modeling was applied to 354 dates from 23 stratigraphic sections in 12 countries on four continents to establish a modeled YDB age range for this event of 12,835-12,735 Cal B.P. at 95% probability. This range overlaps that of a peak in extraterrestrial platinum in the Greenland Ice Sheet and of the earliest age of the Younger Dryas climate episode in six proxy records, suggesting a causal connection between the YDB impact event and the Younger Dryas. Two statistical tests indicate that both modeled and unmodeled ages in the 30 records are consistent with synchronous deposition of the YDB layer within the limits of dating uncertainty (∼ 100 y). The widespread distribution of the YDB layer suggests that it may serve as a datum layer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; kennett@geol.ucsb.edu.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
authors.forename: Brendan J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Culleton
authors.affiliation: Departament Prehistoria i Arqueologia, Universitat de Valencia, E-46010 Valencia, Spain;
authors.forename: J Emili
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Aura Tortosa
authors.affiliation: Berkeley Geochronology Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94709;
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bischoff
authors.affiliation: Geology Program, School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011;
authors.forename: Ted E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Bunch
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858;
authors.forename: I Randolph
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403;
authors.forename: Jon M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Erlandson
authors.affiliation: Viejo California Associates, Joshua Tree, CA 92252;
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720;
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Firestone
authors.affiliation: South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208;
authors.forename: Albert C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Goodyear
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, Departamento de Geología y Mineralogía, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicólas de Hidalgo, 58060 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico;
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Israde-Alcántara
authors.affiliation: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, CA 93105;
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, E-28040 Madrid, Spain;
authors.forename: Jesús F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Jordá Pardo
authors.affiliation: Kimstar Research, Fayetteville, NC 28312;
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Kimbel
authors.affiliation: Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC 27909;
authors.forename: Malcolm A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: LeCompte
authors.affiliation: Center for Archaeological Research, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65897;
authors.forename: Neal H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Lopinot
authors.affiliation: Quaternary Surveys, Thornhill, ON, Canada L4J 1J4;
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Mahaney
authors.affiliation: College of Liberal Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623;
authors.forename: Andrew M T
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208;
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Center for Archaeological Research, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65897;
authors.forename: Jack H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: AMS C Dating Centre, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Geological Museum, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.affiliation: Departments of Anthropology and Geology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221;
authors.forename: Kenneth Barnett
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Tankersley
authors.affiliation: Geology Program, School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011;
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wittke
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614;
authors.forename: Wendy S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wolbach
authors.affiliation: GeoScience Consulting, Dewey, AZ 86327.
authors.forename: Allen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: West
keywords: Bayesian; Younger Dryas; comet; radiocarbon; synchroneity