14C Tephrochronology With Different Fractions of Paleosol Humic Matter at Procida Island, Italy

Abstract

14C apparent ages along with δ13C values for three different fractions of humic matter (HM) isolated from a suite of four paleosols (PAs) interbedded within tephra are reported. The dated HM fractions were: 1) HA, the easily released humic acids; 2) HAtot, the bulk of humic acids; 3) RES, the insoluble HM. The 14C sequence dated from 13,000–25,000 BP, in agreement with stratigraphy and previous data. Age differences up to 2540±430 were statistically significant among fractions; their order of magnitude being independent from C content and depth. All the PAs showed a common pattern of among-fraction age variation, 14C aging trending from RES to HAtot through HA. As the HM fractions exhibited quite comparable δ13C values (δ13C = −25.4±0.2), it is inferred that the primitive organic matter (OM) input to PAs was dominantly supplied by vegetation of C-3 photosynthetic pathway which underwent complete decomposition during diagenesis.