Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T04:44:18.752Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spatiotemporal Variation in ΔR on the West Coast of North America in the Late Holocene: Implications for Dating the Shells of Marine Mollusks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2020

Ian Hutchinson Open the ORCID record for Ian Hutchinson [Opens in a new window]
Ian Hutchinson*
Affiliation:
Ian Hutchinson Vancouver, British Columbia, V5L 2Z4, Canada
*
(ianh@sfu.ca, corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon ages on mollusk shells, which account for about half of the more than 8,000 dates from cultural deposits on the west coast of North America, need to be corrected for the local marine reservoir effect (ΔR) to yield true ages. Assays on “prebomb” shells show that ΔR increases poleward, echoing the age gradient in offshore waters. The meridional gradient in ΔR is not appreciably affected by the transition either from an upwelling regime to a downwelling regime north of 40°N–45°N or from a winter maximum-high alkalinity river discharge pattern to a summer maximum-low alkalinity pattern at the same latitude, probably because these changes are offset by increasing storminess and tidal energy in coastal areas. Mesoscale variations in ΔR along this gradient are attributable to contrasts in shore morphology and exposure. Data from 123 shell-wood pairs reveal similar patterns of temporal variation in ΔR in the late Holocene in the coastal ecoregions. The characteristic temporal pattern echoes phases of variable El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity. The high degree of variability in ΔR argues against the indiscriminate application of regionally uniform or trans-Holocene ΔR values and demands improvements in spatiotemporal resolution if shell is used to date cultural deposits.

Las edades radiocarbónicas de conchas de moluscos, que representan aproximadamente la mitad de las más de 8.000 edades de depósitos culturales en la costa oeste de América del Norte, deben corregirse en función del efecto reservorio marino local (ΔR) para producir edades reales. Estimados de ΔR de 75 "pre-bomba" conchas de moluscos de sitios costeros que se alimentan por filtración hacen eco del gradiente de edad en zonas abisales. El gradiente no está influenciado por la transición de un régimen de surgencia (upwelling) (al sur de 40°N-45°N) a un régimen de surgencia negativa (downwelling), y una transición a la misma latitud desde un patrón de descarga de ríos de máxima / alta alcalinidad invernal a una alcalinidad máxima / baja veraniega. Las variaciones de mesoescala superpuestas a este gradiente general son atribuibles a la morfología costera, la frecuencia de tempestades, el rango de las mareas y los contrastes estuarios vs costas abiertas. Las fluctuaciones a escala de siglos en el ΔR durante el Holoceno tardío (de 123 pares concha-madera) se hacen eco de la frecuencia relativa de eventos de El Niño moderados a muy fuertes en la costa oeste de América del Sur. El alto grado de variabilidad espacio-temporal en ΔR, particularmente en las áreas bajo la influencia de la corriente de California, desaconseja la aplicación de correcciones uniformes, trans-Holoceno, regionales de la edad de conchas, y exige mejoras en la resolución espacio-temporal si se usa las conchas para fechar los depósitos culturales.

Keywords

radiocarbonmarine reservoirΔRNorth AmericaPacific coastspatiotemporal variabilityocean currentsriver dischargeEl Niñoradiocarbónreservorio marino∆RAmérica del NorteCosta Pacificovariabilidad espacio-temporalcorrientes oceánicosdescarga del ríosEl Niño
Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 676 - 693
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Bakun, Andy 1973 Coastal Upwelling Indices, West Coast of North America, 1946–71. US Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Report, NMFS SSRF-671.Google Scholar
Benke, Arthur C., and Cushing, Colbert E. 2005 Rivers of North America. Academic Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Berger, Rainer, and Libby, Willard F. 1966 UCLA Radiocarbon Dates V. Radiocarbon 8:467–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Rainer, Taylor, R. E., and Libby, Willard F. 1966 Radiocarbon Content of Marine Shells from the California and Mexican West Coast. Science 153:864–866.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, Aubrey, and Burchell, Meghan 2009 Clam Growth-Stage Profiles as a Measure of Harvest Intensity and Resource Management on the Central Coast of British Columbia. Journal of Archaeological Science 36:1050–1060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, Gordon, Ascough, Philippa, Bonsall, Clive, Derek Hamilton, W., Russell, Nicola, Sayle, Kerry, Marian Scott, E., and Bownes, Jessica 2015 Best Practice Methodology for 14C Calibration of Marine and Mixed Terrestrial/Marine Samples. Quaternary Geochronology 27:164–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culleton, Brendan J., Kennett, Douglas J., Lynn Ingram, B., Erlandson, Jon M., and Southon, John R. 2006 Intrashell Radiocarbon Variability in Marine Mollusks. Radiocarbon 48:387–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deo, Jennie N., Stone, John O., and Stein, Julie K. 2004 Building Confidence in Shell: Variations in the Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Correction for the Northwest Coast over the Past 3,000 Years. American Antiquity 69:771–786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dettinger, Michael D., Cayan, Daniel R., Diaz, Henry F., and Meko, David M. 1998 North-South Precipitation Patterns in Western North America on Interannual-to-Decadal Timescales. Journal of Climatology 11:3095–3111.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feng, Xiaojuan, Benitez-Nelson, Bryan C., Montluçon, Daniel B., Prahl, Fredrick G., McNichol, Ann P., Xu, Li, Repeta, Daniel J., and Eglinton, Timothy I. 2013 14C and 13C Characteristics of Higher Plant Biomarkers in Washington Margin Surface Sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 105:14–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, Julie E., Johnson, K. R., Santos, Guaciara M., Meyer, L., and Tripati, Aradhna 2013 Investigating δ13C and Δ14C within Mytilus californianus Shells as Proxies of Upwelling Intensity. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 14:1856–1865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gebbie, Geoffrey, and Huybers, Peter 2012 The Mean Age of Ocean Waters Inferred from Radiocarbon Observations: Sensitivity to Surface Sources and Accounting for Mixing Histories. Journal of Physical Oceanography 42:291–305. DOI:10.1175/JPO-D-11-043.1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giddings, Sarah N., and MacCready, Parker 2017 Reverse Estuarine Circulation Due to Local and Remote Wind Forcing, Enhanced by the Presence of Along-Coast Estuaries. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122(12). DOI:10.1002/2016JC012479.Google Scholar
Giddings, Sarah N., MacCready, Parker, Hickey, Barbara M., Banas, Neil S., Davis, Kristen A., Siedlecki, Samantha A., Trainer, Vera L., Kudela, Raphael M., Pelland, Noel A., and Connolly, Tom P. 2014 Hindcasts of Potential Harmful Algal Bloom Transport Pathways on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 119. DOI:10.1002/2013JC009622.Google Scholar
Hallmann, Nadine, Burchell, Megan, Schöne, Bert R., Irvine, Gail V., and Maxwell, David 2009 High-Resolution Sclerochronological Analysis of the Bivalve Mollusk Saxidomus gigantea from Alaska and British Columbia: Techniques for Revealing Environmental Archives and Archaeological Seasonality. Journal of Archaeological Science 36:2353–2364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendy, Ingrid L., Dunn, Larianna, Schimmelmann, Arndt, and Pak, Dorothy K. 2013 Resolving Varve and Radiocarbon Chronology Differences during the Last 2000 Years in the Santa Barbara Basin Sedimentary Record, California. Quaternary International 310:155–168. DOI:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.09.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickey, Barbara M., and Banas, Neil S. 2008 Why Is the Northern End of the California Current System So Productive? Oceanography 21:90–107. DOI:10.5670/oceanog.2008.07.Google Scholar
Holmquist, James R., Reynolds, Laura, Brown, Lauren N., Southon, John R., Simms, Alexander R., and MacDonald, Glen M. 2015 Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Values in Southern California Estuaries: Interspecies, Latitudinal, and Interannual Variability. Radiocarbon 57:449–458. DOI:10.2458/azu_rc.57.18389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchinson, Ian, James, Thomas S., Reimer, Paula J., Bornhold, Brian D., and Clague, John J. 2004 Marine and Limnic Radiocarbon Reservoir Corrections for Studies of Late- and Post-Glacial Environments in Georgia Basin and Puget Lowland, Canada and Washington State, U.S.A. Quaternary Research 61:193–203.Google Scholar
Ingram, B. Lynn 1998 Differences in Radiocarbon Age between Shell and Charcoal from a Holocene Shellmound in Northern California. Quaternary Research 49:102–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, B. Lynn, and Southon, John R. 1996 Reservoir Ages in Eastern Pacific Coastal and Estuarine Waters. Radiocarbon 38:573–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacox, Michael G., Edwards, Christopher A., Hazen, Elliott L., and Bograd, Steven J. 2018 Coastal Upwelling Revisited: Ekman, Bakun, and Improved Upwelling Indices for the U.S. West Coast . Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123. DOI:10.1029/2018JC014187.Google Scholar
Jacox, Michael G., Fiechter, Jerome, Moore, Andrew M., and Edwards, Christopher A. 2015 ENSO and the California Current Coastal Upwelling Response. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 120:1691–1702. DOI:10.1002/2014JC010650.Google Scholar
Jazwa, Christopher S., and Rosencrance, Richard L. 2019 Technological Change and Interior Settlement on Western Santa Rosa Island, California. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 54:235–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Terry L., and Jones, Deborah A. 1992 Elkhorn Slough Revisited: Reassessing the Chronology of CA-MNT-229. Journal of California and Great Basin Archaeology 14:159–179.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Michael A., Russell, Ann D., and Guilderson, Tom P. 2005 A Radiocarbon Chronology of Hunter-Gatherer Occupation from Bodega Bay, California, USA. Radiocarbon 47:265–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladd, Carol, and Cheng, Wei 2016 Gap Winds and Their Effects on Regional Oceanography Part I: Cross, Sound, Alaska. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 132:41–53. DOI:10.1016/j.dsr2.2015.08.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martindale, Andrew, Cook, Gordon T., McKechnie, Iain, Edinborough, Kevan, Hutchinson, Ian, Eldridge, Morley, Supernant, Kishna, and Ames, Ken M. 2018 Estimating Marine Reservoir Effects in Archaeological Chronologies: Comparing ΔR Calculations in Prince Rupert Harbour, British Columbia, Canada. American Antiquity 83:659–680. DOI:10.1017/aaq.2018.47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwick, Trent R., Tamooh, Frederick, Teodoru, Cristian R., Borges, Alberto V., Darchambeau, Francois, and Bouillon, Steven 2015 The Age of River-Transported Carbon. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 29:122–137. DOI:10.1002/2014GB004911.Google Scholar
McCain, Joseph, Braje, Todd J., Estrada, Raquel L. Hernández, Michelini, Antonio Porcayo, Aguilar, José, and Rick, Torben C. 2019 The Four Crowns of the Sea: Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Coronados Islands, Baja California, México. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 14:541–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConnaughey, Ted A., and Gillikin, David P. 2008 Carbon Isotopes in Mollusk Shell Carbonates. Geo-Marine Letters 28:287–299. DOI:10.1007/s00367-008-0116-4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeely, Roger 2006 Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XXXII. Current Research 2006-G. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa.Google Scholar
McNeely, Roger, Dyke, Art S., and Southon, John R. 2006 Canadian Marine Reservoir Ages, Preliminary Data Assessment. Open File 5049, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melsom, Arne, Meyers, Steven D., Hurlburt, Harley E., Metzger, Joseph E., and O'Brien, James J.. 1999 ENSO Effects on Gulf of Alaska Eddies. Earth Interactions 3. DOI:10.1175/1087-3562(1999)003<0001:EEOGOA>2.3.CO;2.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moss, Madonna L., Erlandson, Jon M., and Stuckenrath, Robert 1989 The Antiquity of Tlingit Settlement on Admiralty Island, Southeast Alaska. American Antiquity 54:534–543.Google Scholar
Moss, Madonna L., Lepofsky, Dana, Lyons, Natasha, and Stein, Julie K. 2004 Archaeological Investigation of the Cape Addington Rockshelter: Human Occupation of the Rugged Seacoast on the Outer Prince of Wales Archipelago, Alaska. University of Oregon Anthropological Paper No. 63. University of Oregon, Eugene.Google Scholar
Panich, Lee M., Schneider, Tsim D., and Engel, Paul 2018 The Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect in Tomales Bay, California. Radiocarbon 60:963–974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, Jennifer E., Glassow, Michael A., Neal, Mark L., Joslin, Terry L., and Minas, Kelly R. 2019 Small Islands and Marginality: Santa Barbara Island and Its Role in the Prehistory of California's Channel Islands. Journal of Field Archaeology 44:1–15. DOI:10.1080/00934690.2019.1662262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porcasi, Judith F., and Radde, Hugh 2017 Late Holocene Occupational Cycles at Toyon Bay, Santa Catalina Island, Alta California. California Archaeology 9:21–51.Google Scholar
Prahl, Fredrick G., Ertel, John R., Goñi, Miguel A., Sparrow, Margaret A., and Eversmeyer, Bruce 1994 Terrestrial Organic Carbon Contributions to Sediments on the Washington Margin. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 58:3035–3048. DOI:10.1016/0016-7037(94)90177-5.Google Scholar
Quayle, Daniel B. 1988 Pacific Oyster Culture in British Columbia. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Reeder-Myers, Leslie A. 2014 9,000 Years of Settlement in the Carrington Point Area of Santa Rosa Island, Alta California. California Archaeology 6:247–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, Paula J., Bard, Edouard, Bayliss, Alex, Warren Beck, J., Blackwell, Paul G., Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Buck, Caitlin E., Cheng, Hai, Lawrence Edwards, R., and Friedrich, Michael 2013 IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55:1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Stephen W., and Thompson, Gail 1981 Radiocarbon Corrections for Marine Shell Dates with Application to Southern Pacific Northwest Coast Prehistory. Syesis 14:45–57.Google Scholar
Royer, Thomas C. 1982 Coastal Freshwater Discharge in the Northeast Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 87:2017–2021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skidmore, Douglas S., and Chew, Kenneth K. 1985 Mussel Aquaculture in Puget Sound. Washington Sea Grant Program, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Southon, John, and Fedje, Daryl 2003 A Post-Glacial Record of 14C Reservoir Ages for the British Columbia Coast. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 27:95–111.Google Scholar
Stabeno, Phyllis J., Bond, Nicholas A., Kachel, Nancy B., Ladd, Carol, Mordy, Calvin W., and Strom, Suzanne L. 2016 Southeast Alaskan Shelf from Southern Tip of Baranof Island to Kayak Island: Currents, Mixing and Chlorophyll-a. Deep-Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 132:6–23. DOI:10.1016/j.dst2.2015.06.018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sung, Mi-Kyung, An, Soon-Il, Kim, Baek-Min, and Woo, Sung-Ho 2014 A Physical Mechanism of the Precipitation Dipole in the Western United States Based on PDO-Storm Track Relationship. Geophysical Research Letters 41:4719–4726. DOI:10.1002/2014GL060711.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutherland, David A., MacCready, Parker, Banas, Neil S., and Smedstad, Lucy F. 2011 A Model Study of the Salish Sea Estuarine Circulation. Journal of Physical Oceanography 41:1125–1143. DOI:10.1175/2011JPO4540.1.Google Scholar
Talley, Lynne D. 1993 Distribution and Formation of North Pacific Intermediate Water. Journal of Physical Oceanography 23:517–537.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, R. Ervin, Southon, John, and Des Lauriers, Mathew R. 2007 Holocene Marine Reservoir Time Series R Values from Cedros Island, Baja California. Radiocarbon 49:899–904. DOI:10.1017/S0033822200042764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, Amanda K., Stein, Julie K., and Jolivette, Stephanie A. E. 2011 Big Sites, Small Sites, and Coastal Settlement Patterns in the San Juan Islands, Washington, USA. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 6:287–313. DOI:10.1080/15564894.2010.504614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, Richard E. 1981 Oceanography of the British Columbia Coast. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Watanabe, Tatsuro, Ikeda, Motoyushi, and Wakatsuchi, Masaaki 2004 Thermohaline Effects of the Seasonal Sea Ice Cover in the Sea of Okhotsk. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 109. DOI:10.1029/2003JC001905.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weingartner, Thomas, Eisner, Lisa, Eckert, Ginny L., Danielson, Seth, and Bellwood, David 2009 Southeast Alaska: Oceanographic Habitats and Linkages. Journal of Biogeography 36:387–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkinson, Tara A. C., Wiken, Ed, Bezaury-Creel, Juan, Hourigan, Thomas F., Agardy, Tundi, Herrmann, Hans, Janishevski, Lisa, Madden, Chris, Morgan, Lance, and Padilla, Moreno 2009 Marine Ecoregions of North America. Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Montreal, Canada.Google Scholar
Wise, Erika K. 2010 Spatiotemporal Variability of the Precipitation Dipole Transition Zone in the Western United States. Geophysical Research Letters 37:L07706. DOI:10.1029/2009GL042193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, Hong, Sun, Liguang, Wang, Yuhong, Huang, Wen, Qiu, Shican, and Yang, Chengyun 2011 A Record of the Southern Oscillation Index for the Past 2,000 Years from Precipitation Proxies. Nature Geoscience 4:611–614. DOI:10.1038/NGEO1231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Hutchinson supplementary material

Hutchinson supplementary material 1

Download Hutchinson supplementary material(File)
File 52.6 KB
Supplementary material: File

Hutchinson supplementary material

Hutchinson supplementary material 2

Download Hutchinson supplementary material(File)
File 55.8 KB
Supplementary material: File

Hutchinson supplementary material

Hutchinson supplementary material 3

Download Hutchinson supplementary material(File)
File 62.4 KB