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A High-Throughput, Low-Cost Method for Analysis of Carbonate Samples for 14C

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Mark L Roberts ,
Steven R Beaupré  and
Joshua R Burton
Mark L Roberts*
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
Steven R Beaupré
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
Joshua R Burton
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: mroberts@whoi.edu.
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Abstract

The National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) facility at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has developed an automated system for high-throughput, low-cost analysis of radiocarbon in carbonate samples (e.g. corals, carbonaceous sediments, speleothems, etc.). The method bypasses graphitization and pretreatment, and reduces costs to about 1/5th the price of a graphite-based 14C carbonate analysis, with a throughput of 60 unknowns per day and an analytical precision of better than 2%. Additionally, a simple mixing experiment indicated that extensive cleaning of carbonate samples to remove organic material is not necessary.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 585 - 592
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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