The Impact of Bioturbation on a AMS 14C Dates on Handpicked Foraminifera: A Statistical Model

Abstract

When single species of foraminifera picked from marine sediments are 14C dated with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), bioturbation puts limits on the minimal sample size to be used, as uncertainty is added to the result by statistics of the picking process. The model presented here simulates the additional statistical uncertainty introduced into the measurement by the coupling of bioturbation and small sample amounts. As there is no general solution for this problem, we present two simple cases only. The model can also be used to simulate more complicated situations occurring in sediments.