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Evaluating sulfur-impurity removal and modern carbon contamination in different preparation methods for radiocarbon dating of soil samples by accelerator mass spectrometry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2025

Jun Koarashi Open the ORCID record for Jun Koarashi [Opens in a new window] ,
Erina Takeuchi ,
Yoko Saito-Kokubu  and
Mariko Atarashi-Andoh
Jun Koarashi*
Affiliation:
Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
Erina Takeuchi
Affiliation:
Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
Yoko Saito-Kokubu
Affiliation:
Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Gifu 509-5102, Japan
Mariko Atarashi-Andoh
Affiliation:
Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Jun Koarashi; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Radiocarbon (14C) dating of soil samples by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has been proven useful for studying carbon (C) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. However, this application has two primary difficulties in sample preparation: inhibition of graphite formation due to sulfur (S)-containing impurities and contamination of samples with modern C (MC). Herein, we evaluated these effects using three sample preparation methods (silver foil, silver wire, and Sulfix) by conducting AMS-14C measurements of a 14C-dead charred wood and S-rich soil samples. The preparation methods were all successful in graphite formation and AMS-14C measurement for soil samples with an organic S content <6.9 wt%. The methods showed different percent modern carbon (pMC) values from 0.16% to 0.64% for the 14C-dead sample. The results also revealed that across different methods, MC contamination can be significantly reduced by applying two-step procedure (combustion and subsequent reaction to remove S-containing impurities) during sample preparation. The three methods had a negligible influence on determining the 14C age for samples that were at least younger than 12,000 yr BP. As the 14C ages of the soil samples are typically younger than 12,000 yr BP, any method explored in this study can be employed for 14C dating with sufficient accuracy for application to C cycle studies.

Keywords

modern carbon contaminationpreparation for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)radiocarbon (14C) datingsoil samplesSulfix reagentsulfur-impurity removal
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , First View , pp. 1 - 11
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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