Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:18:53.806Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Geochemistry of Modern and Ancient Arctic Lake Systems, Baffin Island, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark B. Abbott  and
Thomas W. Stafford Jr.
Mark B. Abbott
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Morrill Science Center, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003-5820
Thomas W. Stafford Jr.
Affiliation:
Laboratory for AMS 14C Research, INSTAAR, University of Colorado, Campus Box 450, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0450
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The accuracy of Arctic lake chronologies has been assessed by measuring the 14C activities of modern carbon sources and applying these isotopic mass balances to dating fossil lake materials. Small (<1 km2) shallow (<25 m) Arctic lakes with watersheds <12 km2have soil and peat stratigraphic sections with14C activities ranging from 98 to 51% Modern. The14C activity of particulate organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and dissolved inorganic carbon from lake and stream waters ranges from 121 to 95% Modern. The sediment–water interface of the studied lakes shows consistent14C ages of ∼100014C yr, although the14C activity of living aquatic vegetation is 115% Modern. Radiocarbon measurements of components of the lacustrine carbon pool imply that the ∼100014C yr age of the sediment–water interface results from deposition of14C-depleted organic matter derived from the watershed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 300 - 311
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbott, M. B. (1991). Radiocarbon dating and interpretation of sediments in five lake systems along Frobisher Bay N.W.T., Canada. Unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Aiken, G. R. (1988). A critical evaluation of the use of macroporous resins for the isolation of aquatic humic substances. In “Humic Substances and Their Role in the Environment” (Frimmel, F. H., and Christman, R. F., Eds.), pp. 15–28. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Cole, J. J. Caraco, N. F. Kling, G. W., and Kratz, T. K. (1994). Carbon dioxide supersaturation in the surface waters of lakes. Science 265 , 1568–1570.Google ScholarPubMed
Dansgaard, W. White, J. W. C., and Johnsen, S. J. (1989). The abrupt termination of the Younger Dryas climate event. Nature 339 , 532–533.Google Scholar
Donahue, D. J. Linick, T. W., and Jull, A. J. T. (1990). Isotope ratio and background corrections for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon measurements. Radiocarbon 32 , 135–142.Google Scholar
Douglas, M. S. V. Smol, J. P., and Blake, W. Jr. (1994). Marked post 18th century environmental change in high-Arctic ecosystems. Science 266 , 416–419.Google Scholar
Fowler, A. J. Gillespie, R., and Hedges, R. E. M. (1986). Radiocarbon dating of sediments. Radiocarbon 28 , 441–450.Google Scholar
Goh, K. M., and Molloy, B. P. (1978). Radiocarbon dating of paleosols using soil organic matter components. Journal of Soil Science 29 , 567–573.Google Scholar
IPCC Scientific Assessment (1990). Climate change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment. In “World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Environment Programme” (Houghton, J. T. Jenkins, G. L., and Ephraums, J. J., Eds.), p. 239.Google Scholar
Ishiwatari, R. (1985). Geochemistry of humic substances in lake sediments. In “Humic Substances in Soil, Sediment, and Water” (Aiken, G. R. Micknight, D. M., and Wershaw, R. L., Eds.) pp. 147–180. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Kigoshi, K. Suzuki, N., and Shiraki, M. (1980). Soil dating by fractional extraction of humic acid. Radiocarbon 22 , 853–857.Google Scholar
Killops, S. D., and Killops, V. J. (1993). Formation of humic material, coal and kerogen. In “An Introduction to Organic Geochemistry” (Gill, R. C. O., Ed.), pp. 93–116. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Kling, G. W. Kipphut, G. W., and Miller, M. C. (1991). Arctic lakes and streams as gas conduits to the atmosphere: Implications for tundra carbon budgets. Science 251 , 298–300.Google Scholar
Levin, I. Schuchard, J. Kromer, B., and Munnich, K. O. (1989). The continental European Suess effect. Radiocarbon 31 , 431–440.Google Scholar
Miller, R. J. O. (1992). Late Quaternary lacustrine paleoenvironmental records from southeast Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Nelson, R. E. Carter, L. D., and Robinson, S. W. (1988). Anomalous radiocarbon ages from Holocene detrital organic lens in Alaska and their implications for radiocarbon dating and paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the Arctic. Quaternary Research 29 , 66–71.Google Scholar
Nissenbaum, A., and Kaplin, I. R. (1972). Chemical and isotopic evidence for the in situ origin of marine humic substances. Limnology and Oceanography 17 , 570–582.Google Scholar
Oechel, W. C. Hastings, S. J. Vourlitis, G. Jenkins, M. Riechers, G., and Grulke, N. (1993). Recent change of Arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature 361 , 520–523.Google Scholar
Slota, P. J. Jr. Jull, A. J. T. Linick, T. W., and Toolin, L. J. (1987). Preparation of small samples for 14C accelerator targets by catalytic reduction of CO. Radiocarbon 29 , 303–306.Google Scholar
Stafford, T. W., and Abbott, M. B. (1990). Accelerator 14C dating of organic carbon fractions in lake sediments from Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. “ Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs” Vol. 22, p. A310.Google Scholar
Stafford, T. W. Hare, P. E. Currie, L. Jull, A. J. T., and Donahue, D. (1990). Accuracy of North American human skeleton ages. Quaternary Research, 34 , 111–120.Google Scholar
Steinberg, C., and Muenster, U. (1985). Geochemistry and ecological role of humic substances in lake water. In “Humic Substances in Soil, Sediment, and Water” (Aiken, G. R. Micknight, D. M., and Wershaw, R. L., Eds.), pp. 105–147. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Thurman, E. M. (1985). Organic carbon in natural waters: Amount, origin, and classification. In “Organic Geochemistry of Natural Waters,” pp. 5–112. Nijhoff/Junk, Boston.Google Scholar
Van Horn, K. C. (1985). “Sorbent Extraction Technology,” pp. 1–125. Analytichem International, Harbor City, CA.Google Scholar
Walkley, A. (1947). A critical examination of a rapid method for determining organic carbon in soils: Effects of variation in digestion conditions of inorganic soil constituents. Soil Science 63 , 251–264.Google Scholar