Radiocarbon dating of silica sinter deposits in shallow drill cores from the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
Lowenstern JB, Hurwitz S, McGeehin JP. 2016. Radiocarbon dating of silica sinter deposits in shallow drill cores from the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 310
To explore the timing of hydrothermal activity at the Upper Geyser Basin (UGB) in Yellowstone National Park,we obtained seven new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon 14C ages of carbonaceous material trapped within siliceous sinter. Five samples came fromdepths of 15–152 cm within the Y-1 well, and two samples were from well Y-7 (depths of 24 cm and 122 cm). These two wells, at Black Sand and Biscuit Basins, respectively, were drilled in 1967 as part of a scientific drilling program by the U.S. Geological Survey (White et al., 1975). Even with samples as small as 15 g, we obtained sufficient carbonaceous material (a mixture of thermophilic mats, pollen, and charcoal) for the 14C analyses. Apparent time of deposition ranged from 3775 ± 25 and 2910±30 14C years BP at the top of the cores to about 8000 years BP at the bottom. The dates are consistent with variable rates of sinter formation at individual sites within the UGB over the Holocene. On a basin-wide scale, though, these and other existing 14C dates hint that hydrothermal activity at the UGB may have been continuous throughout the Holocene.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Lowenstern, Jacob; Hurwitz, Shaul; McGeehin, John
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), Biscuit Basin, Black Sand Basin, hydrothermal activity
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Geothermal Features and Processes