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Modern and Pleistocene Reservoir Ages Inferred from South Pacific Corals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G S Burr ,
J W Beck ,
Thierry Corrège ,
G Cabioch ,
F W Taylor  and
D J Donahue
G S Burr*
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0081, USA Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
J W Beck
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0081, USA
Thierry Corrège
Affiliation:
Université Bordeaux 1, Avenue des Facultés 33405 Talence Cedex, France
G Cabioch
Affiliation:
IRD, UMR LOCEAN, Centre d'Ile de France 32, avenue Henri Varagnat 93143 Bondy Cedex, France
F W Taylor
Affiliation:
Institute for Geophysics, J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Bldg. 196, 10100 Burnet Road (R2200), Austin, Texas 78758-4445, USA
D J Donahue
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, Physics Department, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0081, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: burr@u.arizona.edu
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Abstract

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This paper presents radiocarbon results from modern South Pacific corals from the Marquesas Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Easter Island. All of the measurements are from pre-bomb Porites corals that lived during the 1940s and 1950s. The data reflect subannual to multiannual surface ocean 14C variability and allow for precise, unambiguous reservoir age determinations. The results are compared with published values from other coral records throughout the South Pacific, with striking consistency. By comparisons with other published values, we identify 3 South Pacific regions with uniform pre-bomb reservoir ages (1945 to 1955). These are 1) the Central Equatorial South Pacific (361.6 − 8.2 14C yr, 2 σ); 2) the Western Equatorial South Pacific (322.1 − 8.6 14C yr, 2 σ); and 3) the subtropical Pacific (266.8 − 13.8 14C yr, 2 σ).

Type
Calibration
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , 2009 , pp. 319 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

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