The marine C-14 age of the Vedde Ash Bed along the west coast of Norway

Articulated molluscs, sea urchins and barnacle fragments close to the Vedde Ash Bed in a shallow marine deposit on the west coast of Norway have been C-14 dated. The weighted mean of four dates from a sediment slice 8 cm thic k centred on the Vedde Asb Bed is 10920 +/- 24 C-14 yr BP. The most accurat e C-14 age of the Vedde Ash from terrestrial plant macrofossils is 10310 +/ - 50 yr BP. The difference is the C-14 reservoir age for coastal water at t he west coast of Norway during the mid-Younger Dryas and equals 610 +/- 55 yr. This is 230 yr older than the reservoir age for the Bolling/Allerod and for the present day in this area. The result supports earlier conclusions of a higher reservoir age for the Younger Dryas in the North Atlantic and N ordic Seas, although our reservoir age of 610 +/- 55 yr is a few hundred ye ars younger. This suggests that the C-14 reservoir age at Vedde Ash time ma y increase from coastal water towards the open North Atlantic and Nordic Se as. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.