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Marine and limnic radiocarbon reservoir corrections for studies of late- and postglacial environments in Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland, British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA☆

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ian Hutchinson ,
Thomas S. James ,
Paula J. Reimer ,
Brian D. Bornhold  and
John J. Clague
Ian Hutchinson*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6
Thomas S. James
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, B.C. Canada V8L 4B2
Paula J. Reimer
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Brian D. Bornhold
Affiliation:
Centre for Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 2Y2
John J. Clague
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: (604) 291-5841.E-mail address:[email protected] (I. Hutchinson).
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Abstract

Models of late-glacial environmental change in coastal areas are commonly based on radiocarbon ages on marine shell and basal lake sediments, both of which may be compromised by reservoir effects. The magnitude of the oceanic reservoir age in the inland waters of the Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland of northwestern North America is inferred from radiocarbon ages on shell-wood pairs in Saanich Inlet and previously published estimates. The weighted mean oceanic reservoir correction in the early and mid Holocene is −720±90 yr, slightly smaller than, but not significantly different from, the modern value. The correction in late-glacial time is −950±50 yr. Valley-head sites yield higher reservoir values (−1200±130 yr) immediately after deglaciation. The magnitude of the gyttja reservoir effect is inferred from pairs of bulk gyttja and plant macrofossil ages from four lakes in the region. Incorporation of old carbon into basal gyttja yields ages from bulk samples that are initially about 600 yr too old. The reservoir age declines to less than 100 yr after the first millennium of lake development. When these corrections are accounted for, dates of deglaciation and late-glacial sea-level change in the study area are pushed forward in time by more than 500 yr.

Keywords

RadiocarbonReservoir effectsMarine shellGyttjaPacific NorthwestLate-glacial environments
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , March 2004 , pp. 193 - 203
Copyright
University of Washington

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Footnotes

☆

Supplementary data for Fig. 3 are available on IDEAL (http://www.idealibrary.com).

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