Modern Tasman Sea surface reservoir ages from deep-sea black corals

Marine reservoir ages are a key element in calculating and constraining uncertainty in radiocarbon age estimates and are also essential to better understand regional ocean circulation. In this study, we present a new method to reconstruct long-term, high-resolution sea surface reservoir ages based on analysis of the organic skeleton of deep-sea (560 m) black coral (Anthozoa, Antipatharia). Our results confirm that antipatharians are extremely slow growing (typical radial growth rate for a South Pacific specimen around 0.03 mm/yr). Coupled uranium series and radiocarbon measurements were made on black coral collected live from the Norfolk Ridge (north Tasman Sea) to provide the first modern reservoir ages for this region. At the Norfolk Ridge, the average reservoir age between 1790 AD and 1900 AD was ∼330 years. This was followed by a steep decrease over time of about 70 years to 1950 AD (our most modern value). This indicates an increase in surface ocean ventilation of water masses in this region. These results are consistent with observational studies for the early twentieth century, which suggest significant changes in regional circulation of the southwest pacific.