A Large Drop in Atmospheric 14 C/ 12 C and Reduced Melting in the Younger Dryas, Documented with 230 Th Ages of Corals

Abstract

Paired carbon-14 (¹⁴C) and thorium-230(²³⁰Th) ages were determined on fossil corals from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. The ages were used to calibrate part of the ¹⁴C time scale and to estimate rates of sea-level rise during the last deglaciation. An abrupt offset between the ¹⁴C and ²³⁰Th ages suggests that the atmospheric ¹⁴C/¹²C ratio dropped by 15 percent during the latter part of and after the Younger Dryas (YD). This prominent drop coincides with greatly reduced rates of sea-level rise. Reduction of melting because of cooler conditions during the YD may have caused an increase in the rate of ocean ventilation, which caused the atmospheric ¹⁴C/¹²C ratio to fall. The record of sea-level rise also shows that globally averaged rates of melting were relatively high at the beginning of the YD. Thus, these measurements satisfy one of the conditions required by the hypothesis that the diversion of meltwater from the Mississippi to the St. Lawrence River triggered the YD event.