A high-resolution14C dated sediment sequence from southwest Sweden: age comparisons between different components of the sediment

A macrofossil-rich glaciomarine–marine–lacustrine sediment from a soft-water lake in southwestern Sweden has provided an opportunity to ¹⁴C date different components of its sediments. Bulk sediment dates are 100 to 500 yr older than fragile terrestrial macrofossils of corresponding levels, with a mean age difference of ca. 300 yr. This is explained by the presence of old and reworked organic material in the sediment. Five age comparisons between terrestrial macrofossils and periostraca of marine bivalves (probably Arctica islandica) of Allerød age give a mean age difference of 380 yr, i.e. slightly greater than the present reservoir age of 340 ± 30 yr for the Swedish west coast. This difference is roughly the same as for the marine macroalga Desmarestia aculeata. A date from shell carbonate fragments of Mytilus edulis yields an age that is more than 1000 yr older than corresponding periostraca and terrestrial macrofossils and 500–1000 yr older than the age of the supposed deglaciation of the site. Altogether this indicates a larger marine reservoir effect during the Allerød than at present. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.