Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T10:36:59.392Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Radiocarbon in Seawater and Organisms from the Pacific Coast of Baja California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Ellen R. M. Druffel
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 USA
Peter M. Williams
Affiliation:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92093 USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Radiocarbon was measured in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and living organisms collected off the west coast of Baja California in October 1980. Samples from three locations were examined. Δ14C of DIC at the southernmost station was higher than those further north, which reflects reduced upwelling in the southern region. Crabs and anchovies had Δ14C values significantly lower than surface DIC Δ14C, indicating the incorporation of ‘older', sediment-derived carbon sources from their diets. Comparisons are made between our DIC Δ14C measurements and those obtained during other cruises and at a coastal site, from 1959 through 1987. Two distinct time histories of DIC Δ14C are apparent for the post-bomb period: 1) a lower Δ14C curve for sites close to the coast influenced by enhanced coastal upwelling; and 2) a higher Δ14C curve for sites further offshore within the California Current.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Berger, R., Taylor, R. E. and Libby, W. F. 1966 Radiocarbon content of marine shells from the California and Mexican west coast. Science 153: 864866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bien, G. S., Rakestraw, N. W. and Suess, H. E. 1965 Radiocarbon in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and its relation to deep water movements. Limnology and Oceanography 10: R25R37.Google Scholar
Broecker, W. S. and Peng, T.-H. 1980 The distribution of bomb-produced tritium and radiocarbon at GEOSECS Station 347 in the eastern North Pacific. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 49: 453462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Druffel, E. M. 1981 Radiocarbon in annual coral rings from the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters 8: 5861.Google Scholar
Druffel, E. M. 1987 Bomb radiocarbon in the Pacific: Annual and seasonal timescale variations. Journal of Marine Research 45: 667698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linick, T. W. (ms.) 1975 Uptake of bomb-produced carbon-14 by the Pacific Ocean. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at San Diego: 255 p.Google Scholar
Linick, T. W. (ms.) 1980 Bomb-produced carbon-14 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 10th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 22(3):599606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nydal, R. and L⊘vseth, K. 1983 Tracing bomb 14C in the atmosphere 1962–1980. Journal of Geophysical Research 88: 36213642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Östlund, H. G. and Niskin, S. 1970 Radiocarbon profile in the North Pacific 1969 Geosecs Intercalibration Station. Journal of Geophysical Research 75: 7667.Google Scholar
Östlund, H. G. and Stuiver, M. 1980 GEOSECS Pacific Radiocarbon. Radiocarbon 22(1): 2553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearcy, W. G. and Stuiver, M. 1983 Vertical transport of carbon-14 into deep-sea food webs. Deep-Sea Research 30: 427440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roether, W. 1974 The tritium and carbon-14 profiles at the Geosecs I (1969) and GOGO I (1971) North Pacific Stations. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 23: 108115.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. A. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355363.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W. and Thompson, G. 1981 Radiocarbon corrections for marine shell dates with application to southern Pacific Northwest coast prehistory. Syesis 14: 4557.Google Scholar
Sverdrup, H. U., Johnson, M. W. and Fleming, R. H. 1942 The Oceans: Their Physics, Chemistry and General Biology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, Inc.: 131132, 724–727.Google Scholar
Williams, P. M., Carlucci, A. F., Henrichs, S. M., Van Vleet, E. S., Horrigan, S. F., Reid, F. M. H. and Robertson, K. J. 1986 Chemical and microbiological studies of sea-surface films in the southern Gulf of California and off the west coast of Baja California. Marine Chemistry 19: 1798.Google Scholar
Williams, P. M., Druffel, E. R. M. and Smith, K. L. 1987 Dietary carbon sources for deep-sea organisms as inferred from their organic radiocarbon activities. Deep-Sea Research 34(2): 253266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, P. M., Robertson, K. J., Soutar, A., Griffin, S. M. and Druffel, E. R. M. 1991 Isotopic signatures (14C, 13C, 14N) as tracers of sources and cycling of soluble and particulate organic matter in the Santa Monica Basin. Progress in Oceanography, in press.Google Scholar