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Global Production and Decay of Radiocarbon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Paul E Damon  and
Robert E Sternberg
Paul E Damon
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Department of Geosciences University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85711
Robert E Sternberg
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Department of Geosciences University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85711
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Abstract

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The production rate of 14C during the Holocene averaged 2.4 ± 0.2 atoms 14C/cme 2 sec. Neutrons produced by galactic cosmic rays account for 90% of the 14C production with the remaining 10% resulting from neutrons produced by protons from solar flares. Production and decay of 14C can be reconciled by including 14C permanently or temporarily stored in sediments. Sedimentary reservoirs contain ca 30% of all terrestrial 14C. The lagoons, bays, marshes and deltas of the coastal wetlands alone account for 12% of the 14C inventory. The capacity of the coastal wetlands to store carbon has become the subject of renewed interest.

Type
III. Global 14C Variations
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 31 , Issue 3: June 20-25, 1988 Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia , 1989 , pp. 697 - 703
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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