Today was devoted to learning about the freshwater reservoir effect and how it interacts with volcanics, specifically in groundwater. My reason for learning about this was because I am interested in testing for the FRE in irrigation channels in Greenland and Iceland.
To that end, I started my research with “Reservoirs and radiocarbon”, an article by Ascough et al. from 2007 that describes dating strategies at Myvatnssveit. Lots of good sources came out of this article, among other things, and Ascough as ever talks me through reservoir effects with really useful, clear language. The most interesting things to be gleaned from the article, at least for my purposes, are:
- FRE is wildly unpredictable and it is better to just date things that have only terrestrial food sources
- previous studies where FRE was talked about did not see the mixing of resources — terr., marine, and freshwater — that are mixed within isotopic remains.
- Interesting, and a way of bringing the arch back into the sci: how what resources people consume, and what survival strategies they develop, can affect this.
- Everything must be done locally for best results. Using global standards does not really tell the whole picture because there is so much variability of env. conditions. This is a common but important theme.
- Am still wondering why some CO2 is low in 14C? This is probably a basic chemistry thing that I have forgotten.
The article also affirmed my thoughts on how measurement of geothermally active freshwater sources is necessary.
I spent the rest of the day searching on the topic of the freshwater reservoir effect. There is not a lot out there on this, especially not with an archaeological angle.
Today I also accepted entry into the Vatnsfjordur field school for this summer and learned that all but travel is paid for by the funding for the project, about which I am extremely excited.
what i discovered today 