The sources and fate of radiocarbon (14C) in the Dead Sea hypersaline solution are evaluated with 14C measurements in organic debris and primary aragonite collected from exposures of the Holocene Ze’elim Formation. The reservoir age (RA) is defined as the difference between the radiocarbon age of the aragonite at time of its precipitation (representing lakeʼs dissolved inorganic carbon [DIC]) and the age of contemporaneous organic debris (representing atmospheric radiocarbon). Evaluation of the data for the past 6000 yr from Dead Sea sediments reveal that the lakeʼs RA decreased from 2890 yr at 6 cal kyr BP to 2300 yr at present. The RA lies at ~2400 yr during the past 3000 yr, when the lake was characterized by continuous deposition of primary aragonite, which implies a continuous supply of freshwater-bicarbonate into the lake. This process reflects the overall stability of the hydrological-climate conditions in the lakeʼs watershed during the late Holocene where bicarbonate originated from dissolution of the surface cover in the watershed that was transported to the Dead Sea by the freshwater runoff. An excellent correlation (R2=0.98) exists between aragonite ages and contemporaneous organic debris, allowing the estimation of ages of various primary deposits where organic debris are not available.

中文翻译：

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全新世死海的放射性碳储层年龄

放射性碳的来源和归宿（14C) 在死海高盐溶液中用14从全新世 Ze'elim 组的暴露中收集的有机碎片和初级文石中的 C 测量值。储层年龄 (RA) 定义为文石在其沉淀时的放射性碳年龄（代表湖泊溶解的无机碳 [DIC]）与同期有机碎片的年龄（代表大气放射性碳）之间的差异。对过去 6000 年死海沉积物数据的评估表明，该湖的 RA 从 6 cal kyr BP 的 2890 年下降到目前的 2300 年。在过去的 3000 年中，RA 位于约 2400 年，当时该湖的特征是原生文石的连续沉积，这意味着淡水碳酸氢盐持续供应到湖中。这一过程反映了该湖流域在全新世晚期的水文气候条件的整体稳定性，其中碳酸氢盐源于流域表层覆盖物的溶解，并通过淡水径流输送到死海。极好的相关性（R2= 0.98) 存在于文石年龄和同时期有机碎片之间，从而可以估计没有有机碎片的各种原生矿床的年龄。