Investigating the Interhemispheric 14C Offset in the 1st Millennium AD and Assessment of Laboratory Bias and Calibration Errors
Open accessAbstract
Past measurements of the radiocarbon interhemispheric offset have been restricted to relatively young samples because of a lack of older dendrochronologically secure Southern Hemisphere tree-ring chronologies. The Southern Hemisphere calibration data set SHCal04 earlier than AD 950 utilizes a variable interhemispheric offset derived from measured 2nd millennium AD Southern Hemisphere/Northern Hemisphere sample pairs with the assumption of stable Holocene ocean/atmosphere interactions. This study extends the range of measured interhemispheric offset values with 20 decadal New Zealand kauri and Irish oak sample pairs from 3 selected time intervals in the 1st millennium AD and is part of a larger program to obtain high-precision Southern Hemisphere 14 C data continuously back to 200 BC. We found an average interhemispheric offset of 35 ± 6 yr, which although consistent with previously published 2nd millennium AD measurements, is lower than the offset of 55–58 yr utilized in SHCal04. We concur with McCormac et al. (2008) that the IntCal04 measurement for AD 775 may indeed be slightly too old but also suggest the McCormac results appear excessively young for the interval AD 755–785. In addition, we raise the issue of laboratory bias and calibration errors, and encourage all laboratories to check their consistency with appropriate calibration curves and invest more effort into improving the accuracy of those curves.
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Laboratory error multipliers for other legacy datasets were left at the 2004 values, except for Belfast and Waikato where intra-laboratory multipliers had already been included in reported uncertainties; for these datasets multipliers were set to 1 to avoid applying them twice.
“The laboratory error multipliers for the other legacy datasets were also left at the 2004 values with the exception of the more recent data from Belfast and Waikato where intra-laboratory multipliers had already been included in the reported uncertainties (McCormac et al. 2004; Hogg et al. 2009; datasets 2/1, 2/2, 3/1 and 3/2). The laboratory error multipliers for these datasets were therefore set”
From The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP) (2020) · cites this paper as Hogg et al. 2009
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measured14C offsets between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres are well documented, while offsets within the Northern Hemisphere are less well understood.
“While 14 C offsets between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres are well documented (McCormac et al. 1998; Stuiver and Braziunas 1998; Hogg et al. 2009; Turney et al. 2016a), offsets within the Northern Hemisphere are less well understood.”
From The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP) (2020) · cites this paper as Hogg et al. 2009
Irish oak data from the Waikato laboratory for intervals AD 245-335, 745-785, and 895-935 had accidentally been left out of IntCal13 and are now included.
“Irish oak data from the Waikato laboratory (Hogg et al. 2009) for the intervals AD 245 -335, 745 -785, and 895 -935 had accidentally been left out of IntCal13 and are now included.”
From The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP) (2020) · cites this paper as Hogg et al. 2009
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Self-citationThe IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
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“While 14 C offsets between the Southern and Northern Hemispheres are well documented (McCormac et al. 1998; Stuiver and Braziunas 1998; Hogg et al. 2009; Turney et al. 2016a), offsets within the Northern Hemisphere are less well understood.”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationThe AD775 cosmic event revisited: the Sun is to blame
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- Authors
- Hogg, A., Palmer, J., Boswijk, G., Reimer, P., & Brown, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Waikato (NZ)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hogg, Alan
- Venue
- Radiocarbon
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2009
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1177-1186
- ISSN
- 0033-8222 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-5755
- OpenAlex
- W2119637832
- Semantic Scholar
- 5651b029346414b9d0825478b56f1926416a105f
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 1.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Radiocarbon (publishedVersion)
- UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion)
- Research Commons (University of Waikato) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
- University of Waikato
- University of Auckland
- Marsden Fund
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Tree-ring climate responses
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Keywords
- first millennium AD, kauri, dendrochronology, calibration curve, laboratory bias, radiocarbon chronology
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