Temporal Change of Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect in Sugan Lake, Northwest China during the Late Holocene

Abstract

Many lacustrine chronology records suffer from radiocarbon reservoir effects. A continuous, accurate varve chronology, in conjunction with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C dating, was used to determine the age of lacustrine sediment and to quantify the past 14 C reservoir effect in Sugan Lake (China). Reservoir age varied from 4340 to 2590 yr due to 14 C-depleted water in the late Holocene. However, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), 14 C reservoir age was relatively stable. According to this study, 14 C reservoir age in the late Holocene may be driven by hydrological and climatic changes of this period. Therefore, special caution should be paid to the correction of the 14 C reservoir effect by a unique 14 C reservoir age in paleoclimatic and paleolimnological study of northwest China.