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Science 19 January 1968:
Vol. 159. no. 3812, pp. 297 - 300
DOI: 10.1126/science.159.3812.297
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Articles

Milankovitch Hypothesis Supported by Precise Dating of Coral Reefs and Deep-Sea Sediments

Wallace S. Broecker 1, David L. Thurber 1, John Goddard 1, Teh-lung Ku 2, R. K. Matthews 3, and Kenneth J. Mesolella 3

1 Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, and Queens College, Flushing, New York
2 Department of Chemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
3 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

Barbados provides a possibly unique opportunity for reconstruction of the times and elevations of late-Pleistocene high stands of the sea. The island appears to be rising from the sea at a uniform rate that is fast enough to separate in elevation coral-reef tracts formed at successive high stands of the sea. Unaltered coral found in the lower terraces enables high-precision Th230: U234 and Pa231: U235 dating. Three distinct high stands of the sea are found about 122,000, 103,000, and 82,000 years ago. New Pa231 and Th230 dates from a deep-sea core also indicate that Ericson's W-X cold-to-warm climatic change occurred close to 126,000 years ago. These data show a parallelism over the last 150,000 years between changes in Earth's climate and changes in the summer insolation predicted from cycles in the tilt and precession of Earth's axis.


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North American Glacial History Extended to 75,000 Years Ago.
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Coastal depositional landforms: a morphodynamic approach.
L. D. Wright, L.D. Wright, and B.G. Thom (1977)
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Variations in the Earth's Orbit: Pacemaker of the Ice Ages.
J. D. Hays, J. D. Hays, J. Imbrie, and N. J. Shackleton (1976)
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Dates for the Middle Stone Age of East Africa.
F. Wendorf, F. Wendorf, R. L. Laury, C. C. Albritton, R. Schild, C. V. Haynes, P. E. Damon, M. Shafiqullah, and R. Scarborough (1975)
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P. Thompson, P. Thompson, H. P. Schwarcz, and D. C. Ford (1974)
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T.-L. Ku, T.-L. Ku, M. A. Kimmel, W. H. Easton, and T. J. O'Neil (1974)
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C. Emiliani and N. J. Shackleton (1974)
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Lesser Antilles.
J. F. Tomblin (1974)
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H. H. Veeh, H. H. Veeh, and J. Chappell (1970)
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C. Emiliani, C. Emiliani, and E. Rona (1969)
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Caribbean Cores P6304-8 and P6304-9: New Analysis of Absolute Chronology.
W. S. Broecker, W. S. Broecker, and T. L. Ku (1969)
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Geomagnetic Reversal in Brunhes Normal Polarity Epoch.
J. D. Smith and J. H. Foster (1969)
Science 163, 565-567
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Absolute Dating of Caribbean Cores P6304-8 and P6304-9.
E. Rona, E. Rona, and C. Emiliani (1969)
Science 163, 66-68
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Subaerial Diagenesis of Carbonate Sediments: Efficiency of the Solution-Reprecipitation Process.
W. H. Harris and R. K. Matthews (1968)
Science 160, 77-79
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