Dating fossil root cast (Black Sea coast, Turkey) using thermoluminescence: Implications for windblown drift of shelf carbonates during MIS 2

Abstract

Rhizoliths are mostly sub-aerially exposed root prints which appear through removal of the rock units that cap them. A horizontal-lying residual of a rhizolith, consisting purely of soft inner core material of white color was recovered 10 km west of Şile, Istanbul, in northwest Turkey within laminated oolithic massive aeolianite. The inner part, consisting purely of calcium carbonate, was dated by applying thermoluminescence, while for the outer shelves optically stimulated luminescence of quartz was used for age assessment. The age of the CaCO3 infill occupying the original place of the decayed plant roots was found to be 26.8 (±5.0) ka, corresponding to MIS 2. When compared with the ages of the middle (105.2 ± 15.6 ka) and outer (127 ± 9 ka) layers, corresponding to the later stage of MIS 5e or early stage of MIS 5d, the inner core coincides with the last glacial period when the sea-level was lower than the present, promoting transportation of ooids by offshore winds in conjunction with the exposed shelf carbonates. Based on the results yielded, rhizolith is much younger than the host rock aeolianite and witnesses to last glacial sea level lowstand when removal of shelf carbonates by offshore winds was promoted from the exposed shallow shelf plain. The results provide strong evidence that rhizoliths may not be coeval with the aeolianites within which they are embedded.