Strengthening potential of recent peat dating

This study concerned high-resolution age reconstructions of modern organic deposits collected from peatlands distributed in Central Europe. The main focus was on 210Pb radioisotope as a fundamental geochronometer along with 14C and 239+240Pu radioisotopes used for dating verification. In addition to simple classical models such as CF/CS or CF, the new approach formulated upon the Plum method was implemented. Examined peat profiles with usually poorly defined equilibrium depth revealed a high complexity manifested by vertical variability of both 210Pb activity concentration and bulk density. The performance of dating models required prior slight corrections, which led to reliable and accurate chronologies for most of the profiles, representing various peatland types (bogs, poor fens and fens). Moreover, the age series of different 210Pb models were highly consistent for a given core. The 210Pb inventory and flux assessment exhibited maxima (SE, 1σ) of 8450 (90) Bq m-2 and 280 (20) Bq m-2 y-1, respectively, reflecting an elevated level of 222Rn exhalation in the Sudetes region. No statistically significant regularities were found in the geographical distribution of 210Pb fluxes or accumulation rates.