Transgressive Deposits of the Mid-Wisconsin Interstadial from 33° to 40° South Latitude, Argentine Republic: Reliability of 14C Ages

Abstract

An analysis concerning to the reliability of several ¹⁴C ages ranging from 25,700 ± 650 BP to 38,500 ± 3000 BP, obtained from raised estuarine and marine deposits found between 33° to 40° South Latitude is presented. Possible biogenic carbonate contamination by ground water, edaphic development, or crystalline transformation from aragonite to calcite in the shell carbonates, is analyzed in each dated sample. Also considered are laboratory methodological errors and instrumental limitations. Preliminary magnetostratigraphic results appear to support the reliability of these ¹⁴C dates, as do various paleoclimatic and paleomagnetic considerations with a possible cause/effect relationship.