The Fossvogur marine sediments in SW Iceland -- confined to the Alleroed/Younger Dryas transition by AMS super(14)C dating

An exhaustive super(14)C dating programme of molluscs from the Fossvogur sediments in Reykjavik, Iceland is presented. For the first time all the fossiliferous units of the sediments are dated. The results confirm earlier conclusions of a widespread occurrence of marine sediments of Alleroed age in Reykjavik. The set of dates from the Fossvogur sediments shows a narrow super(14)C age distribution (standard deviation of plus or minus 235 years) of molluscs from all localities and from successive marine units in vertical sections. The weighted mean conventional super(14)C age is 11,400 BP. Assuming a reservoir effect of 400 years, this corresponds to a reservoir-corrected age of 11,000 PB, i.e. the Alleroed-Younger Dryas transition for the sampled units.