PECULIARITIES OF RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY OF YOUNGER DRYAS DEPOSITS IN THE TAYMYR PENINSULA

Analysis of Younger Dryas deposits from the Taymyr Peninsula, Siberia, revealed significant discrepancies in C-14 age determinations. Simila r values for C-14 dates from samples collected in vertical stratigraph ic sequence suggest that the interval of elapsed time during the Young er Dryas event is substantially under-estimated by the relative C-14 a ges, effectively suggesting a ''stoppage'' of the C-14 ''clock'' durin g the Younger Dryas. An increase in the partial pressure of carbon dio xide in the atmosphere may be responsible for the apparent decline in the rate of C-14 accumulation, although no causative link has as yet b een established. (C) 1997 INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd.