13C Variation in Limestone on an Aquifer-Wide Scale and Its Effects on Groundwater 14C Dating Models

Abstract

In modeling the initial 14C activity of ground waters, the delta-13C of marine limestone is taken conventionally to vary little about 0 per mil PDB. This variation was found to be 6.28 per mil in samples taken over intervals from 10^-2 to 1^5 meters in the Mooney Falls Member of the Redwall Limestone in northern Arizona. Such a variation will cause appreciable variability in the results of all four initial activity models tested. The variability, due primarily to a numerical instability in the models dependent on this parameter, can introduce significant uncertainty into groundwater "age" calculations.