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ROUTINE QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE SUERC RADIOCARBON LABORATORY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2023

B G Tripney Open the ORCID record for B G Tripney [Opens in a new window] ,
E Dunbar Open the ORCID record for E Dunbar [Opens in a new window] ,
E M Scott Open the ORCID record for E M Scott [Opens in a new window]  and
P Naysmith
B G Tripney*
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
E Dunbar
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
E M Scott
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK
P Naysmith
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF, Scotland, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory reports approximately 3000 unknown samples per year with an additional 1200 samples processed for quality assurance purposes. In addition to the primary OxII standard (SRM-4990C) required for AMS batch normalization, secondary “known-age” standards have been used over many years to evaluate individual batch quality. These have included wood (as prepared alpha-cellulose), barley mash, humic acid, a background mammoth bone, known-age bones, and a whisky sample. In this paper, we present some of the results gathered over routine laboratory operation (for more than 10 years) and examine the results illustrating how they are being used to monitor and quality assure performance. Since many of these samples have also been used in the Glasgow intercomparisons, we will also reflect on the results, as well as the actual and potential uses of such samples.

Keywords

intercomparisonquality assurancestandards
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 66 , Issue 5: 24th Radiocarbon and 10th 14C & Archaeology, Zurich, Sept. 11–16, 2022 Proceedings Part 1 of 2 , October 2024 , pp. 1395 - 1405
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 24th Radiocarbon and 10th Radiocarbon & Archaeology International Conferences, Zurich, Switzerland, 11–16 Sept. 2022

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