Late holocene 14C marine reservoir corrections for Hawai'I derived from U-series dated archaeological coral
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Date
2009-06-01
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University of Arizona
Abstract
The first application of U-series dating and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) assay of Polynesian archaeological Pocillopora spp. branch corals for deriving a precise local marine reservoir correction (ΔR) is described. Known-age corals were selected that spanned the entire culture-historical sequence for the Hawaiian Islands, thus eliminating the problem of not having known-age dated samples that cover the period of direct relevance to prehistorians; in this case, about AD 700–1800. Dating coral samples from windward and leeward coastlines of Moloka‘i Island, with different offshore conditions such as upwelling, currents, wind patterns, coastal topography, and straight or embayed shorelines, provides insights into possible variations of local conditions on the same island—something that has never been attempted. In this regard, there was no spatial variability in ΔR during the 17th century. We report a weighted average ΔR value for Moloka‘i Island of 52 ± 25 yr using
12 pair-dated dedicatory branch corals from religious archaeological sites and demonstrate that there is no significant temporal variability in ΔR between about AD 700 to 1800. In combination with 4 selected previously published ΔR values based
on pre-bomb known-age marine shells, a revised ΔR of 66 ± 54 yr is established for the Hawaiian Islands. However, future
research should examine the archipelago-wide spatial variability in ΔR with the analysis of additional dated archaeological coral samples. © 2009 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona
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Keywords
Carbon 14, Water reservoirs, Hawaii, Corals, Age estimation, Mass spectroscopy
Citation
Weisler, M. I., Hua, Q., & Zhao, J.-X. (2009). Late holocene 14C marine reservoir corrections for Hawai'I derived from U-series dated archaeological coral. Paper presented to the 20th International Radiocarbon Conference, 31st May - 5th June 2009. Big Island, Hawaii: Kailua-Kona. In Radiocarbon, 51(3), 955-968. doi:10.1017/S0033822200034032