Deposition rates and 14C apparent ages of Holocene sediments in the Bothnian Bay of the Gulf of Bothnia using paleomagnetic dating as a reference

Abstract

Three 6-m-long cores of sediments were collected in the northern, middle and southern part of the Bothnian Bay. The sediments were dated by paleomagnetic dating techniques, constrained by magnetic properties and geochemical data. The results indicate the ages of the sediments in the bottom part of the cores in the northern, middle and southern parts of the Bothnian Bay to be approximately 5300yearsBP, 5350yearsBP and 3500yearsBP, respectively. The deposition rate calculated from the estimated ages at various depths show that the deposition rate was generally in the range 0.5–1.5mm/year but it was higher in the southern part than in the middle and northern parts of the bay. There was a significant increase in the deposition rate at ca 2200yearsBP, recorded in all three cores, a rate varying between 2.47 and 3.07mm/year and lasting until ca 1840yearsBP. A proposed constant uplift rate of the crust during the period ca 5500yearsBP to present is thus not reflected by a constant deposition rate. The peaks in deposition rates at ca 2200–1840yearsBP were followed by a decrease in salinity. This phenomenon is suggested to be caused by crustal uplift, with a threshold being formed in the southern part of the bay, thereby increasing the reactivation of bottom sediments and reducing the inflow of brackish water from the Bothnian Sea. The 14C ages of the sediments reveal differences in age compared with the paleomagnetic ages. In the southern core, the 14C ages are ca 1350years older, and in the north, the age offset is mixed. The reactivation and re-deposition of sediments is argued to be the reason for the apparent 14C age differences. This finding demonstrates that 14C cannot be used for the dating of Bothnian Bay sediments unless the radiocarbon age offset has been determined.