Reservoir Correction for the Central and North Kuril Islands in North Pacific Context

Abstract We present new marine reservoir ΔR correction terms for the central and northern Kuril Islands. We estimate ΔR from a series of archaeological charcoal-shell pairs from two archaeological sites using standard calibration procedures and Monte Carlo simulation. The combined ΔR estimate for al...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiocarbon
Main Authors: Fitzhugh, Ben, Brown, William A
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2017.125
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033822217001254
Description
Summary:Abstract We present new marine reservoir ΔR correction terms for the central and northern Kuril Islands. We estimate ΔR from a series of archaeological charcoal-shell pairs from two archaeological sites using standard calibration procedures and Monte Carlo simulation. The combined ΔR estimate for all paired samples for the Kuril samples is 508±127 yr. In the context of available North Pacific Rim ΔR estimates, the new Kuril data support the interpretation of a well-mixed, 14 C-depleted North Pacific Subarctic Gyre. For the broader subarctic North Pacific region, a ΔR estimate in the range of 440±127 yr is a reasonable correction for any coastal marine shell date, and may be applied to fish and marine mammal dates for taxa known to reside within these waters throughout their life-histories. This generalization fails as one moves south from Hokkaido along the East Asian coast. There, well-equilibrated subtropical water minimize the ΔR offset.