Marine reservoir corrections: St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean

C.A. Lewis, Paula Reimer, Ron Reimer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present the first marine reservoir age and Delta R determination for the island of St. Helena using marine mollusk radiocarbon dates obtained from an historical context of known age. This represents the first marine reservoir a.-c and Delta R determination in the southern Atlantic Ocean within thousands of kilometers of the island. The depletion of C-14 in the shells indicates a rather larger reservoir age for that portion of the surface Atlantic than models indicate. The implication is that upwelling old water along the Namibian coast is transported for a considerable distance, although it is likely to be variable on a decadal timescale. An artilleryman's button, together with other artifacts found in a midden, demonstrate association of the mollusk shells with a narrow historic period of AD 1815-1835.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberWOS:000259091600008
Pages (from-to)275-275
Number of pages1
JournalRadiocarbon
Volume50
Publication statusPublished - 2008

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