Late-Holocene marine radiocarbon reservoir correction (ΔR) for the west coast of South Africa

In order to calibrate radiocarbon ages based on samples with a marine carbon component it is important to know the marine carbon reservoir correction or ΔR value. This study measured the ΔR on both known-age pre-bomb marine shells and paired marine and terrestrial samples from two regions on the west coast of South Africa: the southwestern Cape and Namaqualand. Pooling the data by region produces ΔR values that are similar enough to use a west coast weighted mean ΔR of 146 ± 85 14 C years to correctly calibrate marine shell or mixed marine and terrestrial 14 C ages. There are however temporal differences in ΔR throughout the Holocene, which we compare with proxy data for upwelling and sea surface temperatures.