Preliminary study on radiocarbon AMS dating of pollen

17 samples were collected from aeolian and lacustrine profiles within the e nvironment sensitive zone of the Loess Plateau, and an experimental method was established which is suitable for pollen extraction from aeolian sedime nt. A comparative study of pollen dating was carried out using the accelera tor mass spectrometry (AMS) C-14 dating of known age samples, and then an e xperiment with the pollen concentrates was performed. The results indicate that pollen that has been deposited simultaneously with sediment in a stabl e environment can provide reliable ages. This technique will provide a way of improving the chronological framework for the Loess Plateau since the la te Pleistocene. The C-14 dating was combined with field investigations, and from the geological record within this zone, evidence was extracted of fou r major monsoon precipitation changes during the transition from the late P leistocene to Holocene.