Radiocarbon Dating of Individual Fatty Acids as a Tool for Refining Antarctic Margin Sediment Chronologies

• Published in: Radiocarbon
• Main Authors: Ohkouchi, Naohiko, Eglinton, Timothy I, Hayes, John M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2003
• Subjects: Antarctic; Ross Sea; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200032355; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033822200032355

We have measured the radiocarbon contents of individual, solvent-extractable, short-chain (C 14 , C 16 , and C 18 ) fatty acids isolated from Ross Sea surface sediments. The corresponding 14 C ages are equivalent to that of the post-bomb dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) reservoir. Moreover, molecular 14 C variations in surficial (upper 15 cm) sediments indicate that these compounds may prove useful for reconstructing chronologies of Antarctic margin sediments containing uncertain (and potentially variable) quantities of relict organic carbon. A preliminary molecular 14 C chronology suggests that the accumulation rate of relict organic matter has not changed during the last 500 14 C yr. The focus of this study is to determine the validity of compound-specific 14 C analysis as a technique for reconstructing chronologies of Antarctic margin sediments.