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Possible Factors Causing Older Radiocarbon Age for Bulk Organic Matter in Sediment from Daihai Lake, North China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Yanhong Wu ,
Sumin Wang  and
Liping Zhou
Yanhong Wu*
Affiliation:
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China.
Sumin Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
Liping Zhou
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Department of Geography, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
*
Corresponding author. Email: yhwu@imde.ac.cn.
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Abstract

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Many factors may influence the radiocarbon age results of lacustrine sediments, among which the hardwater effect is particularly important. Daihai Lake is a closed lake located in the semi-arid region of Inner Mongolia, China. High concentrations of HCO3- and CO32- and high pH values in the lake water imply that there is a hardwater effect when using bulk lacustrine sediment samples for 14C dating. To correct the apparent 14C age, we present a pilot study based on a series of 14C ages of lake surface sediment, lake water, submerged aquatic plant (Myriophyllum), fish bone (Cyprinus carpio), and surface soil samples from and around Daihai Lake. Assuming that the relationship between the 14C/12C ratio of DIC and of atmospheric CO2 was constant (at 0.816), the hardwater effect ages calculated for the past 8000 yr would have varied from 949 to 1788 yr. Together with the reservoir effect and soil organic matter input, the hardwater effect is a major factor causing changes in apparent age when using bulk organic matter for 14C dating.

Type
Soils and Sediments
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 359 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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