Experimental Determination of the 14C Initial Activity of Calcareous Deposits

Abstract

We have reconstructed the initial activity of calcareous sediments by 1) measuring the 14C activity of recent pre-bomb-test calcareous deposits, 2) calculating the ratio of the 14C activity of the calcareous sediment to that of the adjacent coeval wood, and 3) extrapolating 14C activity of the deep lacustrine sediment layers to the surface, assuming a constant sedimentation rate. We show here that the uppermost sediment is affected by the global increase of atmospheric 14C activity due to thermonuclear bomb tests in the early 1960s. 14C activity of submerged aquatic plants showed values similar to 14C activity of DIC. Thus, organic residue of the sediment cannot be used for reliable 14C dating because of the unknown fraction of aquatic plant detritus. The initial activity, A0, obtained in a case study of the geochronology of carbonates in the Plitvice Lakes area, ranged from 70.5 to 72.2 pMC for Lake Prošće sediment, and from 75.9 to 76.7 pMC for Lake Kozjak sediment. These values also agree with calculated values based on the downstream increase of 14C activity of DIC in freshwater open to the atmosphere.