The radiocarbon reservoir effect in proglacial lakes: Examples from Antarctica

We studied the apparently old radiocarbon ages from lakes in the dry valleys of Antarctica. The radiocarbon reservoir effect in these lakes results from two components: the inherited age and the residence age. The inherited age is derived from input of old carbon, primarily from subsurface melt of adjacent glaciers. The residence age comes from in situ aging of lake water in an environment sealed from the atmosphere. Our results indicate that surface melt of glaciers introduces little ancient carbon to the lake system, because of rapid gas equilibration with the atmosphere. Subsurface melt in lakes with large glacier cross-sectional areas at the grounding line, however, can contribute a significant amount of ancient carbon, leading to lake-bottom reservoir effects in excess of ∼ 2700 yr. This value can increase to ∼ 20,000 yr immediately at the grounding line. In most lakes, however, surface melt far exceeds that from the subsurface and dilutes the effect of ancient carbon, making the inherited age relatively low. Residence ages generally are on the order of a few thousand years, but can be as much as ∼ 10,000 yr. Because a residence age is reset when the lake loses its ice cover and is exposed to wind-driven mixing, its magnitude can provide important information about lake history.