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Carbon Reservoir Effects in Eastern Oyster from Apalachicola Bay, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2017

Carla S Hadden  and
Alexander Cherkinsky
Carla S Hadden*
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Isotope Studies, 120 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA 30602
Alexander Cherkinsky
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Isotope Studies, 120 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA 30602
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an ubiquitous estuarine shellfish taxon in eastern North America and one of the most abundant materials available for radiocarbon (14C) dating. We examine spatiotemporal variability in carbon reservoir effects among pre-bomb oysters from Apalachicola Bay, USA, a river-influenced estuary on the northern Gulf of Mexico. Shells were sampled at multiple points along the valve to produce time-series records of 14C variation during the lives of the mollusks. Conventional ages within shells differed by as little as 36 14C yr to as much as 295 14C yr. Reservoir offsets varied sub-regionally within the estuary, increasing from 92±37 yr in the eastern edge of study region to 227±110 yr in the west, reflecting the influence of 14C-depleted dissolved inorganic carbon from the Apalachicola River. Dynamic carbon reservoirs can pose problems for the estimation of ΔR and for building coastal chronologies. Estimating sub-regional ΔR values can be useful for assessing the range of variability in reservoir offsets within an estuary, and for correcting sample ages if the shell origin is known. Greater variability and/or uncertainty in ΔR lead to greater uncertainty in the calibrated age.

Keywords

reservoir ageshell midden.
Type
Method Development
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 5: 8th International Symposium, Edinburgh, 27 June – 1 July, 2016 Part 1 of 2 , October 2017 , pp. 1497 - 1506
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 8th Radiocarbon & Archaeology Symposium, Edinburgh, UK, 27 June–1 July 2016

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