Mediterranean Sea Surface Radiocarbon Reservoir Age Changes Since the Last Glacial Maximum

G. Siani
2001 Science  
Sea surface reservoir ages must be known to establish a common chronological framework for marine, continental, and cryospheric paleoproxies, and are crucial for understanding ocean-continent climatic relationships and the paleoventilation of the ocean. Radiocarbon dates of planktonic foraminifera and tephra contemporaneously deposited over Mediterranean marine and terrestrial regions reveal that the reservoir ages were similar to the modern one (ϳ400 years) during most of the past 18,000
more » ... -14 years. However, reservoir ages increased by a factor of 2 at the beginning of the last deglaciation. This is attributed to changes of the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation during the massive ice discharge event Heinrich 1.
doi:10.1126/science.1063649 pmid:11729315 fatcat:udwxj3cv6vabhniyrc7yg3nt6m