L'apport des séries dendrochronologiques françaises au prolongement de la chronologie européenne absolue et à la calibration du radiocarbone

Abstract

Absolutely dated tree ring chronologies have been used to establish a high precision radiocarbon data set. That serves as a backbone for the absolute calibration of the radiocarbon time-scale back to 12594 cal BP (Schaub et al., 2008 a). Lateglacial floating tree ring chronologies exist but a gap still remains between them and the absolute European chronology. The challenge is to link absolute and Lateglacial chronologies, overcoming uncertainties due to changes in the reservoir age of marine data used for the radiocarbon calibration before the onset of the Holocene. In this paper (1) we will give the actual 'state of the art 'of existing absolutely dated tree-ring chronology and floating tree-ring chronologies of the LateGlacial and (2) we will present potential revealed by floating chronologies (Pinus silvestris,) from Southern French Alps. The French Lateglacial floating chronologies are dated to Bôlling-Allerôd and to onset of Younger Dryas. By means of wiggle-matching method, these new tree-ring based I4C records bridge the gap between European tree-ring based radiocarbon dating series.