Radiocarbon Dating of Individual Fatty Acids as a Tool for Refining Antarctic Margin Sediment Chronologies
Issue Date
2003-01-01Keywords
Ross SeaSouthern Ocean
fatty acids
marine sedimentation
Antarctica
inorganic materials
sedimentation
sedimentation rates
marine sediments
organic acidsHoloceneupper Holoceneorganic compoundssedimentsCenozoicQuaternaryC 14carbonisotopesradioactive isotopesabsolute age
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Ohkouchi, N., Eglinton, T. I., & Hayes, J. M. (2003). Radiocarbon dating of individual fatty acids as a tool for refining Antarctic margin sediment chronologies. Radiocarbon, 45(1), 17-24.Journal
RadiocarbonAdditional Links
http://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/Abstract
We have measured the radiocarbon contents of individual, solvent-extractable, short-chain (C14, C16, and C18) fatty acids isolated from Ross Sea surface sediments. The corresponding 14C ages are equivalent to that of the post-bomb dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) reservoir. Moreover, molecular 14C 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 14C chronology suggests that the accumulation rate of relict organic matter has not changed during the last 500 14C yr. The focus of this study is to determine the validity of compound-specific 14C analysis as a technique for reconstructing chronologies of Antarctic margin sediments.Type
Articletext
Language
enISSN
0033-8222Scopus Count
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