To better understand Pleistocene climatic changes in the Arctic, integrated palaeoenvironmental and
palaeoclimatic signals from a variety of marine and terrestrial geological records as well as geochronologic
age control are required, not least for correlation to extra-Arctic records. In this paper we discuss,
from an Arctic perspective, methods and correlation tools that are commonly used to date Arctic
Pleistocene marine and terrestrial events. We review the state of the art of Arctic geochronology, with
focus on factors that affect the possibility and quality of dating, and support this overview by examples of
application of modern dating methods to Arctic terrestrial and marine sequences.
Event stratigraphy and numerical ages are important tools used in the Arctic to correlate fragmented
terrestrial records and to establish regional stratigraphic schemes. Age control is commonly provided by
radiocarbon, luminescence or cosmogenic exposure ages. Arctic Ocean deep-sea sediment successions
can be correlated over large distances based on geochemical and physical property proxies for sediment
composition, patterns in palaeomagnetic records and, increasingly, biostratigraphic data. Many of these
proxies reveal cyclical patterns that provide a basis for astronomical tuning.
Recent advances in dating technology, calibration and age modelling allow for measuring smaller
quantities of material and to more precisely date previously undatable material (i.e. foraminifera for 14C,
and single-grain luminescence). However, for much of the Pleistocene there are still limits to the resolution
of most dating methods. Consequently improving the accuracy and precision (analytical and
geological uncertainty) of dating methods through technological advances and better understanding of
processes are important tasks for the future. Another challenge is to better integrate marine and
terrestrial records, which could be aided by targeting continental shelf and lake records, exploring
proxies that occur in both settings, and by creating joint research networks that promote collaboration
between marine and terrestrial geologists and modellers