Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T01:59:48.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spatial Variation in the Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect Throughout the Scottish Post-Roman to Late Medieval Period: North Sea Values (500–1350 BP)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

N Russell ,
G T Cook ,
P L Ascough  and
A J Dugmore
N Russell
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland.
G T Cook
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland.
P L Ascough
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride G75 0QF, Scotland.
A J Dugmore
Affiliation:
Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Old High School, Infirmary Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, Scotland
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (MRE) occurs as a spatially and temporally dependent variable owing to localized changes in oceanic water composition. This study investigates ΔR values (deviations from the global average MRE whose ΔR = 0) during the period 500–1350 BP for the east coast of Scotland, where a complex estuarine system exists that drains into the semi-enclosed North Sea basin. Due to the availability of suitable archaeological samples, the data set has a distinct Medieval focus that spans the area from Aberdeen in the north to East Lothian in the south. Many of the ΔR values are not significantly different from 0 (the global average), but there are occasional excursions to negative values (max –172 ± 20) indicating the presence of younger water. These values show greater variability compared to other published data for this general region, suggesting that considerable care must be taken when dating marine derived samples from archaeological sites on the east coast of Scotland.

Type
Marine
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 3: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 1166 - 1181
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Ambers, JC. 1987. Identification of the use of marine plant material as animal fodder by stable isotope ratios. In: Mook, WG, Waterbolk, HT, editors. Proceedings of the 2nd international symposium on 14C and Archaeology, Strasbourg, France. PACT 29:251–8.Google Scholar
Ascough, P, Cook, GT, Dugmore, AJ, Barber, J, Higney, E, Scott, EM. 2004. Holocene variations in the Scottish marine radiocarbon reservoir effect. Radiocarbon 46(2):611–20.Google Scholar
Ascough, P, Cook, GT, Dugmore, AJ. 2005a. Methodological approaches to determining the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect. Progress in Physical Geography 29(4):532–47.Google Scholar
Ascough, PL, Cook, GT, Dugmore, AJ, Scott, EM, Freeman, SPHT. 2005b. Influence of mollusk species on marine ΔR determinations. Radiocarbon 47(3):433–40.Google Scholar
Ascough, P, Cook, G, Church, MJ, Dugmore, AJ, Arge, SV, McGovern, TH. 2006. Variability in North Atlantic marine radiocarbon reservoir effects at c. AD 1000. The Holocene 16(1):131–6.Google Scholar
Ascough, PL, Cook, GT, Dugmore, AJ, Scott, EM. 2007a. The North Atlantic marine reservoir effect in the Early Holocene: implications for defining and understanding MRE values. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics B 259(1):438–47.Google Scholar
Ascough, PL, Cook, GT, Church, MJ, Dugmore, AJ, McGovern, TG, Dunbar, E, Einarsson, Á, Friðriksson, A, Gestsdóttir, H. 2007b. Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14C dating problems in Mývatnssveit, northern Iceland. Radiocarbon 49(2):947–61.Google Scholar
Ascough, P, Cook, GT, Dugmore, AJ. 2009. North Atlantic marine 14C reservoir effects: implications for late-Holocene chronological studies. Quaternary Geochronology 4(3):171–80.Google Scholar
Austin, WEN, Cage, AG, Scourse, JD. 2006. Mid-latitude shelf seas: a NW European perspective on the seasonal dynamics of temperature, salinity and oxygen isotopes. The Holocene 16(7):937–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balls, PW. 1992. Nutrient behaviour in two contrasting Scottish estuaries, the Forth and the Tay. Oceanologica Acta 15(3):261–77.Google Scholar
Balls, PW. 1994. Nutrient inputs to estuaries from nine Scottish east coast rivers; influence of estuarine processes on inputs to the North Sea. Estuarine Coast Shelf Science 39(4):329–52.Google Scholar
Barber, J. 2003. Bronze Age farms and Iron Age farm mounds of the Outer Hebrides. Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports (SAIR) 3. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. URL: http://www.sair.org.uk/sair3. Accessed 20 December 2009.Google Scholar
Bersch, M, Yashayaev, I, Koltermann, KP. 2007. Recent changes of the thermohaline circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic. Ocean Dynamics 57(3):223–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 1995. Radiocarbon calibration and analysis of stratigraphy: the OxCal program. Radiocarbon 37(2):425–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 43(2A):355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, DL, Corcoran, B. 1959. Sealed tube combustions for the determination of carbon-13 and total carbon. Analytical Chemistry 31:1635–17.Google Scholar
Butler, PG, Scourse, JD, Richardson, CA, Wanamaker, AD, Bryant, CL, Bennell, JD. 2009. Continuous marine radiocarbon reservoir calibration and the 13C Suess effect in the Irish Sea: results from the first multi-centennial shell-based marine master chronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 279(3–4):230–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, H. 1957. Isotopic standards for carbon and oxygen and correction factors for mass-spectrometric analysis of carbon dioxide. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 12(1–2):133–49.Google Scholar
DeNiro, MJ, Epstein, S. 1978. Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 42(5):495–506 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickson, RR, Meinke, J, Malmberg, SA, Lee, AJ. 1988. The ‘Great Salinity Anomaly’ in the northern North Atlantic 1968–1982. Progress in Oceanography 20(2):103–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, S, Buchsbaum, R, Lowenstam, H, Urey, HC. 1953. Revised carbonate water isotopic temperature scale. Geological Society of America Bulletin 64:1315–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, SPHT, Dougans, A, McHargue, L, Wilcken, KM, Xu, S. 2008. Performance of the new single stage accelerator mass spectrometer at the SUERC. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 266(10):2225–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geological Map Data © NERC. 2010. Available at URL: http://edina.ac.uk/digimap/index.shtml.Google Scholar
Hakkinen, S, Rhines, PB. 2009. Shifting surface currents in the northern North Atlantic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research 114: C04005, doi:10.1029/2008JC004883.Google Scholar
Harkness, DD. 1983. The extent of the natural 14C deficiency in the coastal environment of the United Kingdom. PACT 8:351–64.Google Scholar
Hughen, KA, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RG, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyenmeyer, CE. 2004. Marine04 marine radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1059–86.Google Scholar
Hut, G. 1987. Consultants Group Meeting on Stable Isotope Reference Samples for Geochemical and Hydrological Investigations, Report to the Director General. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. 42 p.Google Scholar
Kennett, DJ, Ingram, L, Erlandson, JM, Walker, P. 1997. Evidence for temporal fluctuations in marine radiocarbon reservoir ages in the Santa Barbara Channel, southern California. Journal of Archaeological Science 24(11):1051–9.Google Scholar
Kovanen, DJ, Easterbrook, DJ. 2002. Paleodeviations of radiocarbon marine reservoir values for the northeast Pacific. Geology 30(3):243–6.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longin, R. 1971. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 230(5291):241–2.Google Scholar
Lyons, MG, Balls, PW, Turrell, WR. 1993. A preliminary study of the relative importance of riverine nutrient inputs to the Scottish North Sea Coastal Zone. Marine Pollution Bulletin 26(11)620–8.Google Scholar
Meehan, B. 1982. Shell Bed to Shell Midden. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. 117 p.Google Scholar
OSPAR Commission. 2000. Quality Status Report 2000. London: OSPAR Comission. 108 p.Google Scholar
Post DM. 2002. Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83(3):703–18.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RG, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1029–58.Google Scholar
Reiter, P. 2000. From Shakespeare to Defoe: malaria in England in the Little Ice Age. Emerging Infectious Diseases 6(1).Google Scholar
Svendsen, E, Sætre, R, Mork, M. 1991. Features of the northern North Sea circulation. Continental Shelf Research 11(5):493–508.Google Scholar
Turrell, WR. 1992. New hypotheses concerning the circulation of the northern North Sea and its relation to North Sea fish stock recruitment. ICES Journal of Marine Science 49(1):107–23.Google Scholar
Turrell, WR, Henderson, EWR, Slesser, G, Payne, R, Adams, RD. 1992. Seasonal changes in the circulation of the northern North Sea. Continental Shelf Research 12(2–3):257–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Merwe, NJ. 1989. Natural variation in 13C concentration and its effect on environmental reconstruction using 13C/12C ratios in animal bones. In: Price, TD, editor. The Chemistry of Prehistoric Human Bone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p 105–25.Google Scholar
Vandeputte, K, Moens, L, Dams, R. 1996. Improved sealed-tube combustion of organic samples to CO2 for stable carbon isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and percent carbon determinations. Analytical Letters 29(15):2761–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, GK, Wilson, SR. 1978. Procedures for comparing and combining radiocarbon age determinations: a critique. Archaeometry 20(1):19–31.Google Scholar
Waselkov, GA. 1987. Shellfish gathering and shell midden archaeology. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 10:93–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winther, NG, Johannessen, JA. 2006. North Sea circulation: Atlantic inflow and its destination. Journal of Geophysical Research. 111: C12018, doi:10.1029/2005JC003310.Google Scholar