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Southwest Subtropical Pacific Surface Water Radiocarbon in a High-Resolution Coral Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Thomas P Guilderson
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA Laboratory for Geochemical Oceanography, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Daniel P Schrag
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Geochemical Oceanography, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Ethan Goddard
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Geochemical Oceanography, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Michaele Kashgarian
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA
Gerard M Wellington
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
Braddock K Linsley
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, USA
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Abstract

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We have generated a high-resolution coral Δ14C record from the southwest subtropical Pacific spanning the last 50 yr. Prebomb (1950–1956) Δ14C values average −52%. Values begin to increase in 1957, reaching a maximum in the early 1970s, about 10 yr after the atmospheric peak. There is a consistent 10–15% seasonal cycle whose relationship with vertical mixing evolves as a consequence of the penetration of the bomb transient into subsurface waters. Comparison of this record with that simulated in an ocean general circulation model highlights the difficulty in modeling vertical exchange processes.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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