Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T23:07:24.820Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of Atmospheric 14C Variations on the 14C Levels in the Jordan River System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Israel Carmi ,
Mariana Stiller  and
Aaron Kaufman
Israel Carmi
Affiliation:
Isotope Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Mariana Stiller
Affiliation:
Isotope Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Aaron Kaufman
Affiliation:
Isotope Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

13C and 14C were measured in the upper Jordan River, in its tributaries which issue from the Mount Hermon aquifer, and in the local atmospheric CO2 to evaluate the degree to which changes in the atmospheric 14C levels influence the 14C levels in the aquifer and in the Jordan River. The exchange fraction of CO2 between the river and the atmosphere was calculated for fall 1983 with the two carbon isotopes and it is shown that the value obtained with 14C (0.364) is the more reliable. The ratio of 14C in the Jordan River to that in the atmosphere in 1972 is similar to that in 1983, 0.66 and 0.67, respectively. This implies an approximately constant ratio (0.44) between the 14C level in the Mount Hermon aquifer base-flow and the 14C level in the atmospheric CO2. This information can be combined with the known historical fluctuations in the 14C levels of the atmosphere to calculate the 14C fluctuations in the discharge of the Jordan River into Lake Kinneret, backwards in time.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 27 , Issue 2B , 1985 , pp. 305 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Broecker, W S and Olson, E A, 1961, Lamont radiocarbon measurements VIII: Radiocarbon, v 3, p 176–204.Google Scholar
Broecker, W S and Walton, A, 1959, The geochemistry of 14C in fresh water systems: Geochim et Cosmochim Acta, v 16, p 15–38.Google Scholar
Broecker, W S, Peng, T H, Mathieu, G, Hesslein, R, and Torgerson, T, 1980, Gas exchange rate measurements in natural systems in Stuiver, Minze and Kra, Renee, eds, Internatl radiocarbon conf, 10th, Proc: Radiocarbon, Radiocarbon, v 22, no. 3, p 676–683.Google Scholar
Carmi, I, Noter, Y, and Schlesinger, R, 1971, Rehovot radiocarbon measurements I: Radiocarbon, v 13, p 412–419.Google Scholar
Clark, R M, 1975, A calibration curve for radiocarbon dates: Antiquity, v 69, p 251–266.Google Scholar
Deevey, E S, Gross, M S, and Kraybill, H L, 1954, The natural 14C contents of materials from hard-water lakes: Natl Acad Sci Proc, v 40, p 285–288.Google Scholar
Inbar, M, (ms), 1977, Bed load movement and channel morphology in the Upper Jordan River: PhD dissert, Hebrew Univ, Jerusalem, 204 p (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Keeling, C D, 1961, The concentration and chemical abundances of carbon dioxide in rural and marine air: Geochim et Cosmochim Acta, v 24, p 277–298.Google Scholar
Michelson, H, (ms), 1975, Geohydrology of the south eastern slopes of Mount Hermon: Tel Aviv, Tahal water planning for Israel (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Mook, W G, (ms), 1968, Geochemistry of the stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of natural waters in the Netherlands: PhD dissert, Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen, 157 P.Google Scholar
Mook, W G, Bommerson, J C, and Staverman, W H, 1974, Carbon isotope fractionation between dissolved bicarbonate and gaseous carbon dioxide: Earth Planetary Sci Letters, v 22, p 167–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, J P and Skirrow, G, 1965, Chemical oceanography, vol 1: New York, Academic Press, 712 P.Google Scholar
Saliége, J F and Fontes, J Ch, 1984, Essai de determination experimentale du fractionnement des isotopes 13C et 14C du carbon au cours de process naturels: Internatl Jour Applied Radiation Isotopes, v 35, p 55–62.Google Scholar
Segl, M, Levin, I, Schoch-Fischer, H, Münnich, B, Kromer, B, Tschierch, J, and Münnich, K O, 1983, Anthropogenic 14C variations in Stuiver, Minze and Kra, Renee, eds, Internatl radiocarbon conf, 11th, Proc: Radiocarbon, v 25 no. 2, p 583–592.Google Scholar
Simpson, B and Carmi, I, 1983, The hydrology of the Jordan River tributaries (Israel): hydrographic and isotopic investigation: Jour Hydrology, v 62, p 225–242.Google Scholar
Stiller, M, (ms), 1974, Rates of transport and sedimentation in Lake Kinneret: PhD dissert, Weizmann Inst Sci, Rehovot, 240 p (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Suess, H E, 1980, The radiocarbon record in tree rings of the last 8000 years in Stuiver, Minze and Kra, Renee, eds, Internatl radiocarbon conf, 11th, Proc Radiocarbon, v 25, no. 2, p 200–209.Google Scholar