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

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 294; no. 5548; pp. 1917 - 1920
• Main Authors: Siani, Giuseppe, Paterne, Martine, Michel, Elisabeth, Sulpizio, Roberto, Sbrana, Alessandro, Arnold, Maurice, Haddad, Geoffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 30.11.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Subjects: Age Differences; Analysis; Animals; Atlantic Ocean; Atmosphere; Calibration; Carbon - metabolism; Carbon dating; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Carbon Radioisotopes - metabolism; Climate; Climate change; Cold Climate; Composition; Computer Peripherals; Continental interfaces, environment; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Foraminifera; Fresh Water; Geologic Sediments - parasitology; Greenland; Ice; Marine; Marine and continental quaternary; Marine geology; Mars; Mediterranean Sea; Ocean, Atmosphere; Oceans; Paleoceanography; Paleoclimatology; Plankton - metabolism; Radiocarbon; Radiocarbon dating; Reservoirs; Reservoirs (Water); Sciences of the Universe; Sea water; Seas; Seawater; Studies; Surface water; Surficial geology; Temperature; Tephra; Time Factors; Volcanic Eruptions; Water; East Mediterranean; Adriatic Sea; North Atlantic; Mediterranean Sea; Atlantic Ocean; Greenland; AN, North Atlantic; MED; O-18/O-16; Atlantic Ocean; reservoirs; Globigerinidae; Globigerinacea; upper Quaternary; paleoclimate; climate modification; thermohaline circulation; dating; Heinrich events; Cenozoic; Mediterranean Sea; marine sediments; stable isotopes; Globigerina bulloides; Quaternary; paleotemperature; Globigerina; deglaciation; meltwater; surface water; upper Pleistocene; C-14; foraminifera; Invertebrata; Phanerozoic; Protista; Holocene; ocean circulation; Pleistocene; Rotaliina
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1063649

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 (∼400 years) during most of the past 18,000 carbon-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.