Preliminary estimates for the radiocarbon age of deep water in the glacial ocean

• Published in: Paleoceanography
• Main Authors: Broecker, W. S., Andree, M., Bonani, G., Wolfli, W., Oeschger, H., Klas, M., Mix, A., Curry, W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 1988
• Subjects: Pacific; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33103/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/33103/1/scan_2016-06-15_14-33-14r.1.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/PA003i006p00659

Radiocarbon ages for benthic and planktonic foraminifera from the late glacial sections of two Atlantic and two Pacific cores are reported. The differences for benthic-planktonic pairs suggest that the radiocarbon age for deep Atlantic water was somewhat larger than today's (i.e., 600±250, as opposed to 400 years) and that the radiocarbon age for deep Pacific water was also slightly larger than today's (2100±400, as opposed to 1600, years). Our results suggest that during glacial time, the deep Pacific was, as it is today, significantly depleted in radiocarbon relative to the deep Atlantic. As many questions remain unanswered regarding the reliability of this approach, these conclusions must be considered to be preliminary.