1. Variability in North Atlantic marine radiocarbon reservoir effects at c.1000 AD
- Author
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Philippa L. Ascough, Thomas H. McGovern, Gordon Cook, Símun V. Arge, Mike J. Church, and Andrew J. Dugmore
- Subjects
010506 paleontology ,Archeology ,Marine reservoir effect ,Context (language use) ,01 natural sciences ,law.invention ,Atlantic Islands ,Reservoir effect ,law ,0601 history and archaeology ,Radiocarbon dating ,Delta R ,Holocene ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Earth-Surface Processes ,Global and Planetary Change ,060102 archaeology ,Ecology ,North Atlantic ,Paleontology ,06 humanities and the arts ,Radiocarbon ,Oceanography ,Period (geology) ,Physical geography ,Norse archaeology ,Late Holocene ,Geology - Abstract
14C age measurements made on samples from three archaeological sites located on North Atlantic coasts were used to investigate the marine reservoir effect (MRE) at c.AD 1000. This is an important period within human cultural and palaeoenvironmental research as it is a time when Norse expansion to the North Atlantic islands occurred, during what appears to be a period of ameliorating climatic conditions. This makes improved chronological precision and accuracy at this time highly desirable. The data indicate a potential latitudinal variation in MRE at c. AD 1000 from a ΔR of-142±16 14C yr at Omey Island (53° 32' N) to 64±13 14C yr at Undir Junkarinsfløtti (61° 51' N). The results are compared with modern assessments of MRE values within the context of oceanographic and climatic regimes that provide a possible driving mechanism for spatial and temporal variation in MRE.
- Published
- 2006