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Variations of Younger Dryas atmospheric radiocarbon explicable without ocean circulation changes

Nature volume 403, pages 877–880 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The concentration of radiocarbon, 14C, in the atmosphere depends on its production rate by cosmic rays, and on the intensity of carbon exchange between the atmosphere and other reservoirs, for example the deep oceans. For the Holocene (the past ∼11,500 years), it has been shown that fluctuations in atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations have been caused mostly by variations in the solar magnetic field1,2,3. Recent progress in extending the radiocarbon record backwards in time4,5,6,7,8,9,10 has indicated especially high atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations in the Younger Dryas cold period, between 12,700 and 11,500 years before the present. These high concentrations have been interpreted as a result of a reduced exchange with the deep-ocean reservoir, caused by a drastic weakening of the deep-ocean ventilation7,8,9,11,12. Here we present a high-resolution reconstruction of atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations, derived from annually laminated sediments of two Polish lakes, Lake Gościa̧ż and Lake Perespilno. These records indicate that the maximum in atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations in the early Younger Dryas was smaller than previously believed, and might have been caused by variations in solar activity. If so, there is no indication that the deep-ocean ventilation in the Younger Dryas was significantly different from today’s.

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Figure 1: Radiocarbon versus calendar ages during the Late Glacial and early Holocene.
Figure 2: Comparison of calendar timescales of the records discussed in the text.
Figure 3: Atmospheric 14C concentrations in the Late Glacial and early Holocene.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Finkel for the numerical data on 10Be concentration in the GISP2 ice core, R. Alley for the data on the GISP2 accumulation rate, K. Hughen for the 14C calibration data and the grey-scale record of the Cariaco sediments, S. Johnsen and C. Hammer for the data on the GRIP timescale, M. Spurk for the data on the German pine tree-ring thickness, and E. Bard for comments on the manuscript. The sediment cores from Lake Gościa̧ż and Lake Perspilno were raised with the help of J. Pawlyta, A. Rakowski and A. Walanus. The terrestrial macrofossils were picked up by D. Moszyńska-Moskwa. The French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Commissariat de l’Energie Atomique carried out accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C measurements. This work has been sponsored by the Polish Committee for Scientific Research, through the grant to T.G.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, Silesian Technical University, Gliwice, 44-100, Poland

    Tomasz Goslar & Justyna Czernik

  2. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, CNRS-CEA, Gif sur Yvette, 91198, France

    Maurice Arnold & Nadine Tisnerat-Laborde

  3. Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw , 00-325, Poland

    Kazimierz Wiȩckowski

Authors
  1. Tomasz Goslar
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  2. Maurice Arnold
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  4. Justyna Czernik
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  5. Kazimierz Wiȩckowski
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Correspondence to Tomasz Goslar.

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Goslar, T., Arnold, M., Tisnerat-Laborde, N. et al. Variations of Younger Dryas atmospheric radiocarbon explicable without ocean circulation changes. Nature 403, 877–880 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35002547

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