ESR chronology of alluvial deposits in the Arlanz¨®n valley (Atapuerca, Spain): Contemporaneity with Atapuerca Gran Dolina site

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• 作者：Davinia Moreno ; Christophe Falgu¨¨res ; Alfredo P¨¦rez-Gonz¨¢lez ; Mathieu Duval ; Pierre Voinchet ; Alfonso Benito-Calvo ; Ana Isabel Ortega ; Jean-Jacques Bahain ; Robert Sala ; Eudald Carbonell ; Jose Mar¨ªa Berm¨²dez de Castro ; Juan Luis Arsuaga
• 关键词：ESR dating ; Bleached quartz ; Fluvial sediments ; Arlanzó ; n ; Gran Dolina ; Pleistocene
• 刊名：Quaternary Geochronology
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：July, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：10
• 期：Complete
• 页码：418-423
• 全文大小：879 K

文摘

The Sierra de Atapuerca (Northern Spain) is characterized by a well-developed karst system where several major archaeological sites have been discovered, attesting an almost continuous hominin occupation of the area during the whole Pleistocene period. Previous geomorphological studies showed a connection between genesis of the karst system and the evolution of the nearby Arlanz¨®n river Valley. However, numerical dating results were missing to refine the chronostratigraphical framework of the Arlanz¨®n valley's fluvial incision. To address this, we applied the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating method to sedimentary optically bleached quartz grains from several fluvial terraces. Nine samples were collected from five of the 14 identified terraces. The ESR age results are stratigraphically coherent and in general agreement with both previous geomorphological observations and available palaeomagnetic data. Consequently, an ESR chronology of the geological evolution of the Arlanz¨®n valley is proposed, which can be then correlated to the sedimentary sequence of the palaeoanthropological site of Atapuerca Gran Dolina. Our results provide important information about the chronology of hominid occupation in this area during Early and Middle Pleistocene.