Abstract
An exhaustive 14C dating programme of molluscs from the Fossvogur sediments in Reykjavik. Iceland is presented. For the first time all the fossiliferous units of the sediments are dated. The results confirm earlier conclusions of a widespread occurrence of marine sediments of Allerød age in Reykjavik. The set of dates from the Fossvogur sediments shows a narrow 14C age distribution (standard deviation of ±235 years) of molluscs from all localities and from successive marine units in vertical sections. The weighted mean conventional 14C age is 11,400 BP. Assuming a reservoir effect of 400 years. this corresponds to a reservoir‐corrected age of I1,000 BP. i.e. the Allerød‐ Younger Dryas transition for the sampled units, These new 14C dates from Fossvogur confirm the need for a revision of the Upper Pleistocene chronology of the Reykjavik region. They also have a bearing on the Late Weichselian record of glacier readvances and sea‐level changes in the area. The dates suggest that the marine units in Fossvogur accumulated within a restricted time‐span of a few hundred years. The sediments in Fossvogur are of volcaniclastic origin and are extremely lithified, indicating local geothermal activity soon after their deposition. This may explain anomalously high D/L amino acid ratios measured in molluscs from the Fossvogur sediments. δ13C and δ18O results suggest that temperatures may have ranged up to 60°C.
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