After each core collection, the sediment cores were immediately returned to the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center. They were placed in a refrigerator for 1 to 3 days, then split vertically, sectioned at 1 or 2 cm intervals, frozen, and then freeze dried for 7 days, until sediment weights did not change further. Dry bulk density was determined as the dry weight of a known volume of sample. Approximately 5 g of dried sediment sample was blended and homogenized prior to sealing in a jar for a minimum of three weeks and then placed on a planar-type gamma counter for 24 to 48 hours to measure 7Be, 137Cs, 210Pb, and 226Ra at 477, 661.6, 46.5 and 352 kiloelectronvolts (KeV) energies respectively (Canberra Inc., USA). Detector efficiency was determined from EPA standard pitchblende ore in the same geometry as the samples. Activities of 7Be, 137Cs, and 210Pb were decay corrected to time of collection. Suppression of low energy peaks by self-absorption was corrected for according to Cutshall and others, 1983. Detection limit for excess 210Pb was 0.05 dpm/g (disintegrations per minute per gram). Sediment ages and accretion rates were calculated with the continuous rate of supply 210Pb age model, a variant on the advection-decay equation (Appleby and Oldfield, 1978; Goldberg, 1963). This model assumes that 210Pb supply to the sediment surface is constant through time, but allows for changing sedimentation rates, in addition to decay, to control the down-core activity of 210Pb. The common form of the CRS (constant rate of 210Pb supply) model as derived by Appleby and Oldfield (1978) solves for age based on the distribution of 210Pb in the sediment record. Prior to application of the age model, 210Pb profiles were evaluated to ensure they were sufficiently resolved to apply the CRS model without bias towards to ages that are too old or accretion rates that are too low at depth (Binford, 1990). All gamma analyses were ongoing from 2014 and completed in 2016.
Appleby, P.G., and Oldfield, Frank, 1978, The calculation of lead-210 dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment: Catena, v. 5, issue 1, p. 1–8,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0341-8162(78)80002-2.
Binford, M.W., 1990, Calculation and uncertainty analysis of 210 Pb dates for PIRLA project lake sediment cores: Journal of Paleolimnology, v. 3, issue 3, p. 253-267,
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00219461.
Cutshall, N.H., Larsen, I.L., and Olsen, C.R., 1983, Direct analysis of 210 Pb in sediment samples—Self-absorption corrections: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, v. 206, issues 1–2 , p. 309–312,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-5087(83)91273-5.
Goldberg, E.D, 1963, Geochronology with 210 Pb, in Miller, J.A., convener, Radioactive dating: International Atomic Energy Agency Symposium on Radioactive Dating, Athens, Greece, November 19-23, 1962, [Proceedings], p. 121-131.