Department of Earth System Science

Radiocarbon measurements were performed on krill and coral samples collected from the Weddell Sea during IWSOE ′80. These are the first radiocarbon measurements available from this area since 1973. These data reveal carbon-14 levels for Weddell surface water and southern Weddell Shelf water. These data indicate that the radiocarbon levels in surface waters in 1980 were the same or slightly lower than those present in 1973. In addition, an unusually low Δ¹⁴C value for shelf water (from coral) at 500 m is evidence that Warm Deep Water (WDW) may penetrate much further and more frequently onto the shelf region than had previously been expected.