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Assessments of radiocarbon measurements of dissolved organic carbon for small/ultra-small samples by MICADAS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2026

Wenjing Fu ,
Hailong Zhang ,
Zicheng Wang ,
Xuchen Wang  and
Meixun Zhao Open the ORCID record for Meixun Zhao [Opens in a new window]
Wenjing Fu
Affiliation:
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ocean University of China, China Laoshan Laboratory, China
Hailong Zhang
Affiliation:
Laoshan Laboratory, China
Zicheng Wang
Affiliation:
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ocean University of China, China
Xuchen Wang
Affiliation:
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ocean University of China, China
Meixun Zhao*
Affiliation:
Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ocean University of China, China Laoshan Laboratory, China
*
Corresponding author: Meixun Zhao; Email: maxzhao@ouc.edu.cn
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Abstract

The radiocarbon (14C) composition of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) provides critical constraints on its sources, transformation and fates. UV-irradiation is an effective approach to completely oxidize DOC to CO2 for radiocarbon measurements. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of radiocarbon measurements for small/ultra-small size natural DOC samples using mini carbon dating system (MICADAS) using CO2 gas as the target. The procedure blank was estimated by the indirect method using two reference standards, oxalic acid II (OXII, modern) and glycine (dead). We modified the UV-generated CO2 purification and collection approaches for freshwater and marine samples based on the sample salinity. The results showed that the procedure blanks were low and statistically identical for the two approaches, with the carbon mass of 1.65 ± 0.50 µgC and the F14C value of 0.4848 ± 0.1455 for freshwater sample processing, and 1.70 ± 0.51 µgC with F14C value of 0.4118 ± 0.1235 for marine sample. The UV-generated CO2 gases in small/ultra-small size (30 – 126 µgC) DOC samples from the Pearl River-Estuary-northern South China Sea continuum were further measured and the data correction was based on those corresponding procedure blank. Our results were comparable to previous studies obtained with large sample size and graphite target for radiocarbon measurements. We concluded that the UV-oxidation system combined with MICADAS gaseous CO2 measurements at OUC is particularly suitable for small/ultra-small size DOC samples with high throughput, and this system provided powerful tools to acquire radiocarbon data to understand the compositional, spatial and temporal variabilities of DOC.

Keywords

blank assessmentMICADAS CO2 measurementradiocarbonsmall/ultra-small DOC

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Type
Technical Note
Information
Radiocarbon , First View , pp. 1 - 11
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© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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