Revisiting the marine reservoir age in Baja California continental margin sediments using 14C and 210Pb dating

Abstract

Knowledge of the Marine Reservoir Effect (MRE) correction is fundamental in palaeoceanographic research to establish an accurate age-depth model for marine sedimentary records. However, during the last decades different MRE corrections have been applied in inconsistent ways for the same locality and same sediment cores, at Soledad Basin, Baja California, Mexico, creating confusion about the proper correction value of the marine reservoir effect (ΔR) to be applied. In contrast with the empirical approach previously used for assessing the ΔR value in Soledad Basin, in this study we applied an analytical approach based on the concurrent application of AMS- 14 C and 210 Pb xs dating techniques made on sedimentary total organic carbon and foraminifera to determine new regional ΔR values from newly collected sediment cores from this site. Our results from Soledad Basin show a ΔR of 206 ± 32 years for foraminifera and 706 ± 42 years for organic carbon. Modeled ages using these results, and compared with those previously applied for the basin, highlight the relevance of the correct use of the local reservoir age as it can generate an offset of approximately 150 years if the other published ΔR were used. These differences can shift core chronologies by several decades and thus yield significant errors in palaeoceanographic reconstructions, which will be important to remedy in future work. • We propose a new ΔR value for the Soledad Basin region. • Paired AMS-14C/210Pbxs dating technique was used to estimate ΔR value. • ΔR values are 706 ± 42 yr and 206 ± 32 yr for OM and foraminifera, respectively. • Our results offer a solution to existing discrepancies between ΔR used regionally. • Chronology obtained with our ΔR correlates most robustly with the timing of PDO.