Abstract
Abstract Changes in marine upwelling can affect the radiocarbon content of seawater and thus affect the marine radiocarbon reservoir age, R. These radiocarbon variations are preserved in mollusk shell carbonate. Shell-based estimates of R in a variable-upwelling environment can be biased by (1) changes in molluscan growth rates due to fluctuating environmental conditions and (2) time averaging during sampling due to homogenization of days or weeks of precipitated carbonate. We modeled the growth, radiocarbon content, and radiocarbon sampling of two Peruvian mollusks, Argopecten purpuratus (bay scallop) and Mesodesma donacium (surf clam), to quantify these potential biases. Argopecten purpuratus grows year round, but M. donacium prefers cold conditions and its growth rate decreases in summer. Radiocarbon assays by accelerator mass spectrometry on multiple ∼1 mg samples of a model A. purpuratus shell can capture the full range of annual R variation; similar sampling of a model M. donacium shell only capture...
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
