Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-bthnr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-30T22:47:22.643Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Marine and limnic radiocarbon reservoir corrections for studies of late- and postglacial environments in Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland, British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA☆

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ian Hutchinson ,
Thomas S. James ,
Paula J. Reimer ,
Brian D. Bornhold  and
John J. Clague
Ian Hutchinson*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6
Thomas S. James
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, B.C. Canada V8L 4B2
Paula J. Reimer
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
Brian D. Bornhold
Affiliation:
Centre for Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 2Y2
John J. Clague
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: (604) 291-5841.E-mail address:ianh@sfu.ca (I. Hutchinson).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Models of late-glacial environmental change in coastal areas are commonly based on radiocarbon ages on marine shell and basal lake sediments, both of which may be compromised by reservoir effects. The magnitude of the oceanic reservoir age in the inland waters of the Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland of northwestern North America is inferred from radiocarbon ages on shell-wood pairs in Saanich Inlet and previously published estimates. The weighted mean oceanic reservoir correction in the early and mid Holocene is −720±90 yr, slightly smaller than, but not significantly different from, the modern value. The correction in late-glacial time is −950±50 yr. Valley-head sites yield higher reservoir values (−1200±130 yr) immediately after deglaciation. The magnitude of the gyttja reservoir effect is inferred from pairs of bulk gyttja and plant macrofossil ages from four lakes in the region. Incorporation of old carbon into basal gyttja yields ages from bulk samples that are initially about 600 yr too old. The reservoir age declines to less than 100 yr after the first millennium of lake development. When these corrections are accounted for, dates of deglaciation and late-glacial sea-level change in the study area are pushed forward in time by more than 500 yr.

Keywords

RadiocarbonReservoir effectsMarine shellGyttjaPacific NorthwestLate-glacial environments

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , March 2004 , pp. 193 - 203
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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

☆

Supplementary data for Fig. 3 are available on IDEAL (http://www.idealibrary.com).

References

Alley, N.F., Chatwin, S.C., (1979). Late Pleistocene history and geomorphology, southwestern Vancouver Island. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 16, 1645–1657.Google Scholar
Anundsen, K., Abella, S., Leopold, E., Stuiver, M., Turner, S., (1994). Lateglacial and early Holocene sea-level fluctuations in the central Puget Lowland, Washington, inferred from lake sediments. Quaternary Research. 42, 149–161.Google Scholar
Bard, E., (1988). Correction of accelerator mass spectrometry 14C ages measured in planktonic foraminifera: paleoceanographic implications. Paleoceanography. 3, 635–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrie, J.V., Conway, K.W., (2002). Rapid sea level change and coastal evolution on the Pacific margin of Canada. Sedimentary Geology. 150, 171–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais-Stevens, A., Clague, J.J., (2001). Paleoseismic signature in late Holocene sediment cores from Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Marine Geology. 175, 131–148.Google Scholar
Bornhold, B.D., Firth, J.V., Adamson, L.M., Baldauf, J.G., Blais, A., Elvert, M., Fox, P.J., Hebda, R., Kemp, A.E.S., Moran, K., Morford, J.H., Mosher, D.C., Prairie, Y.T., Russell, A.D., Schulteiss, P., Whiticar, M.J., (1998). Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Volume 169S Initial Reports, Saanich Inlet. College Station, TX. Ocean Drilling Program 138.Google Scholar
Bornhold, B.D., Kemp, A.E.S., (2001). Preface. Marine Geology. 174, 1.Google Scholar
Brown, K.J., Hebda, R.J., (2002). Origin, development and dynamics of coastal temperate conifer rainforests of southern Vancouver Island, Canada. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 32, 353–372.Google Scholar
Brown, K.J., Hebda, R.J., (2003). Coastal rainforest connections disclosed through a Late Quaternary vegetation, climate, and fire history investigation from the Mountain Hemlock Zone on southern Vancouver Island, British Colombia (sic), Canada. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 123, 247–269.Google Scholar
Brown, T.A., Nelson, D.E., Mathewes, R.W., Vogel, J.S., Southon, J.R., (1989). Radiocarbon dating of pollen by accelerator mass spectrometry. Quaternary Research. 32, 205–212.Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., Harper, J.R., Hebda, R.J., Howes, D.E., (1982). Late Quaternary sea levels and crustal movements, coastal British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 19, 597–618.Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., James, T.S., (2002). History and isostatic effects of the last ice sheet in southern British Columbia. Quaternary Science Reviews. 21, 71–87.Google Scholar
Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W., Guilbault, J.-P., Hutchinson, I., Ricketts, B.D., (1997). Pre-Younger Dryas resurgence of the southwestern margin of the Cordilleran ice sheet, British Columbia, Canada. Boreas. 26, 261–276.Google Scholar
Cwynar, L.C., (1987). Fire and the forest history of the North Cascade Range. Ecology. 68, 791–802.Google Scholar
Dethier, D.P., Pessl, F. Jr., Keuler, R.F., Balzarini, M.A., Pevear, D.R., (1995). Late Wisconsinan glaciomarine deposition and isostatic rebound, northern Puget Lowland, Washington. Geological Society of America Bulletin. 107, 1288–1303.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumond, D.E., (1987). The Eskimos and Aleuts. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Dyck, W., Fyles, J.G., Blake, W. Jr., (1965). Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates IV. Radiocarbon. 7, 24–46.Google Scholar
Dyke, A.S., McNeely, R., Southon, J., Andrews, J.T., Peltier, W.R., Clague, J.J., England, J.H., Gagnon, J.-M., Baldinger, A., (2003). Preliminary assessment of Canadian marine reservoir ages. Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Quaternary Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia (June 8–12, 2003).Google Scholar
Engstrom, D.R., Fritz, S.C., Almendinger, J.E., Juggins, S., (2000). Chemical and biological trends during lake evolution in recently deglaciated terrain. Nature. 408, 161–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engstrom, D.R., Hansen, B.C.S., Wright, H.E. Jr., (1990). A possible Younger Dryas record in southeastern Alaska. Science. 250, 1383–1385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fedje, D.W., Christensen, T., (1999). Modelling paleoshorelines and locating early Holocene coastal sites in Haida Gwaii. American Antiquity. 64, 635–652.Google Scholar
Fedje, D.W., McSporran, J.B., Mason, A.R., (1996). Early Holocene archaeology and paleoecology at the Arrow Creek sites in Gwaii Haanas. Arctic Anthropology. 33, 116–142.Google Scholar
Friele, P.A., Hutchinson, I., (1993). Holocene sea-level change on the central west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30, 832–840.Google Scholar
Gordon, J.E., Harkness, D.D., (1992). Magnitude and geographic variation of the radiocarbon content in Antarctic marine life: implications for reservoir corrections in radiocarbon dating. Quaternary Science Reviews. 11, 697–708.Google Scholar
Grant-Taylor, T.L., (1972). Conditions for the use of calcium carbonate as a dating material. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Radiocarbon Dating. vol. 2, Royal Society of New Zealand, Wellington., 592–596.Google Scholar
Hallett, D.J., Hills, L.V., Clague, J.J., (1997). New accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages for the Mazama tephra layer from Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 34, 1202–1209.Google Scholar
Hansen, B.C.S., Engstrom, D., (1996). Vegetation history of Pleasant Island, southeastern Alaska, since 13,000 yr BP. Quaternary Research. 46, 161–175.Google Scholar
Hebda, R.J., (1983). Late-glacial and postglacial vegetation history at Bear Cove bog, northeast Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Botany. 61, 3172–3192.Google Scholar
Hedenström, A., Possnert, G., (2001). Reservoir ages in Baltic Sea sediment—a case study of an isolation sequence from the Litorina Sea stage. Quaternary Science Reviews. 20, 1779–1785.Google Scholar
Heine, J.T., (1998a). A minimal lag time and continuous sedimentation in alpine lakes near Mt. Rainier, Cascade Range, Washington, U.S.A. Journal of Paleolimnology. 19, 465–472.Google Scholar
Heine, J.T., (1998b). Extent, timing, and climatic implication of glacier advances, Mt. Rainier, Washington, U.S.A. at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Quaternary Science Reviews. 17, 1139–1148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, B.L., Southon, J.R., (1996). Reservoir ages in eastern Pacific coastal and estuarine waters. Radiocarbon. 38, 573–582.Google Scholar
James, T.S., Clague, J.J., Wang, K., Hutchinson, I., (2000). Postglacial rebound at the northern Cascadia subduction zone. Quaternary Science Reviews. 19, 1527–1541.Google Scholar
James, T.S., Hutchinson, I., Clague, J.J., (2002). Improved relative sea-level histories for Victoria and Vancouver from isolation basin coring. Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research. 2002-A16, 1–7.Google Scholar
Josenhans, H.W., Fedje, D., Conway, K.W, Barrie, J.V., (1995). Post glacial sea levels on the western Canadian continental shelf: evidence for rapid change, extensive subaerial exposure, and early human habitation. Marine Geology. 125, 73–94.Google Scholar
Josenhans, H.W., Fedje, D., Pienitz, R., Southon, J., (1997). Early humans and rapidly changing Holocene sea levels in the Queen Charlotte Islands—Hecate Strait, British Columbia, Canada. Science. 277, 71–74.Google Scholar
Kennett, D.J., Ingram, B.L., Erlandson, J.M., Walker, P., (1997). Evidence for temporal fluctuations in marine radiocarbon reservoir ages in the Santa Barbara Channel, southern California. Journal of Archaeological Science. 24, 1051–1059.Google Scholar
Kienast, S.S., McKay, J.L., (2001). Sea surface temperatures in the subarctic Northeast Pacific reflect millennial-scale climate oscillations during the last 16 kyrs. Geophysical Research Letters. 28, 1563–1566.Google Scholar
Kovanen, D.J., Easterbrook, D.J., (2002). Paleodeviations of radiocarbon marine reservoir values for the northeast Pacific. Geology. 30, 243–246.Google Scholar
Lambeck, K., Chappell, J., (2001). Sea level change through the last glacial cycle. Science. 292, 679–686.Google Scholar
Mack, R.N., Rutter, N.W., Valastro, S., Bryant, M. Jr., (1978). Late Quaternary vegetation history at Waits Lake, Colville River Valley, Washington. Botanical Gazette. 139, 499–506.Google Scholar
Mathewes, R.W., (1973). A palynological study of postglacial vegetation changes in the University Research Forest, southwestern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Botany. 51, 1985–2103.Google Scholar
Mathewes, R.W., Westgate, J.A., (1980). Bridge River tephra—revised distribution and significance for detecting old carbon errors in radiocarbon dates of limnic sediments in southern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 17, 1454–1461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeely, R., (2002). Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates XXXIII. Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research 2001.Google Scholar
Olsson, I., (1979). The radiocarbon contents of various reservoirs. Berger, R., Suess, H.E., Radiocarbon Dating. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on radiocarbon Dating, Los Angeles and La Jolla, 1976 613–618.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., Swanson, T.W., (1998). Radiocarbon age constraints on rates of advance and retreat of the Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation. Quaternary Research. 50, 205–213.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., (1998). Carbon cycle variations in a Pacific Northwest Lake during the late-glacial to early Holocene. Ph.D. thesis, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Robinson, S.W., Thompson, G., (1981). Radiocarbon corrections for marine shell dates with application to southern Pacific Northwest coast prehistory. Syesis. 14, 45–57.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, C., (1988). Late Quaternary invertebrate faunal associations and chronology of the western Champlain Sea. Gadd, N.R., The Late Quaternary Development of the Champlain Sea Basin. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper 35, Ottawa 155–176.Google Scholar
Sikes, E.L., Samson, C.R., Guilderson, T.P., Howard, T.P., (2000). Old radiocarbon ages in the Southwest Pacific Ocean during the last glacial period and deglaciation. Nature. 405, 555–559.Google Scholar
Southon, J.R., Nelson, D.E., Vogel, J.S., (1990). A record of past ocean-atmosphere radiocarbon differences from the northeast Pacific. Paleoceanography. 5, 197–206.Google Scholar
Sutherland, D.G., (1980). Problems of radiocarbon dating deposits from newly deglaciated terrain: examples from the Scottish Lateglacial. Lowe, J.J., Gray, J.M., Robinson, J.E., Studies in the Lateglacial of North-West Europe. Pergamon Press, Oxford., 139–149.Google Scholar
Swanson, T.W., Caffee, M.L., (2002). Determination of 36Cl production rates derived from the well-dated deglaciation surfaces of Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands, Washington. Quaternary Research. 56, 366–382.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Hutchinson et al. Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material

Download Hutchinson et al. Supplementary Material(File)
File 36.9 KB