Marine radiocarbon reservoir age simulations for the past 50,000 years revisited

Marine radiocarbon reservoir age simulations for the past 50,000 years revisited | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Marine radiocarbon reservoir age simulations for the past 50,000 years revisited Martin Butzin, Florian Adolphi, Gerrit Lohmann This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Marine radiocarbon ( 14 C) archives are depleted relative to the atmospheric 14 C reservoir, which is commonly expressed as the Marine 14 C Reservoir Age (MRA). Here we apply the Earth system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-X equipped with 14 C to simulate the MRA evolution over the past 50,000 years. Globally, our simulated MRAs range from 400 to 1200 14 C years and are systematically lower than previous estimates from the uncoupled LSG ocean general circulation model, which is mainly due to stronger ocean ventilation in CLIMBER-X. Short-term MRA variations are dominated by changes in cosmogenic 14 C production, while glacial-interglacial climate variations exert slower and damped effects. From the coupled evolution of atmospheric and marine 14 C in these simulations we infer that during the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion the interhemispheric 14 C gradient in the atmosphere was up to twice as large as previously estimated. Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoceanography Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ButzinetalMRACEESuppFigs.pdf Supplementary Figures S1 – S3 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8180274","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":549881105,"identity":"704f8285-5f9e-4e55-a91f-754c8993407a","order_by":0,"name":"Martin Butzin","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBDBiYDjAUMHAwMbAYEBIA2MDWAsbSMsZYrUwQLUwMLaBRfBr0W0/+/zBwx0MeQb32x8eLpxnl9jHwLzxAT4tZmfSDRsSzzAUGxxjSDg8c1tyYhsDWzFea8wOpDE2AJUlbjjGcOAw7zbm3DYGHjMJvFrOP4NpYWw4zDunHqTF/AdeLTfgtjAzHOZtOAy2BZ8OoJZnjDMS2ySKJY+lMRzmOXa8vo2ZrZiAw9IYPv5ss8njO3z88Weemmpj+fbmjR/wWgMByMYyE6F+FIyCUTAKRgF+AAC9j0t+ta6a9wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9275-7304","institution":"Allfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martin","middleName":"","lastName":"Butzin","suffix":""},{"id":549881106,"identity":"39929a08-2189-4d2f-a166-7e9777f2cb54","order_by":1,"name":"Florian Adolphi","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0014-8753","institution":"Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Florian","middleName":"","lastName":"Adolphi","suffix":""},{"id":549881107,"identity":"d2df15ff-7b3a-4bb4-848b-883153cfd6fe","order_by":2,"name":"Gerrit Lohmann","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2089-733X","institution":"Alfred Wegener Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gerrit","middleName":"","lastName":"Lohmann","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-22 12:05:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101283852,"identity":"ac99ccbd-6d05-428b-803a-65c3fd6249b2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-28 06:05:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2600846,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"ButzinetalMRACEEArticle.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8180274/v1_covered_ff58c295-5a8a-4c83-9167-f335fa30c8cc.pdf"},{"id":101283843,"identity":"a7d2abeb-10cd-4002-b204-95d4d6581b4a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-28 06:05:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1561434,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Figures S1 \u0026#x2013; S3","description":"","filename":"ButzinetalMRACEESuppFigs.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8180274/v1/2551f0fcafeb4a7c3869095f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Marine radiocarbon reservoir age simulations for the past 50,000 years revisited","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":true,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Marine radiocarbon (\u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC) archives are depleted relative to the atmospheric \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC reservoir, which is commonly expressed as the Marine \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC Reservoir Age (MRA). Here we apply the Earth system model of intermediate complexity CLIMBER-X equipped with \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC to simulate the MRA evolution over the past 50,000 years. Globally, our simulated MRAs range from 400 to 1200 \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC years and are systematically lower than previous estimates from the uncoupled LSG ocean general circulation model, which is mainly due to stronger ocean ventilation in CLIMBER-X. Short-term MRA variations are dominated by changes in cosmogenic \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC production, while glacial-interglacial climate variations exert slower and damped effects. From the coupled evolution of atmospheric and marine \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC in these simulations we infer that during the Laschamps geomagnetic excursion the interhemispheric \u003csup\u003e14\u003c/sup\u003eC gradient in the atmosphere was up to twice as large as previously estimated.","manuscriptTitle":"Marine radiocarbon reservoir age simulations for the past 50,000 years revisited","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-28 06:05:29","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8180274/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-earth-and-environment","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commsenv","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Earth and Environment](https://www.nature.com/commsenv/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Communications Earth \u0026 Environment","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Communications Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b4c964ae-7f15-4e0d-953f-f18a2efad260","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 28th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":58504827,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoceanography"},{"id":58504828,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ocean sciences"},{"id":58504829,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Palaeoclimate"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-02T17:20:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-28 06:05:29","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8180274","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8180274","identity":"rs-8180274","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}