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Intercomparison of 14C Dating of Wood Samples at Lund University and ETH-Zurich AMS Facilities: Extraction, Graphitization, and Measurement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

F Adolphi ,
D Güttler ,
L Wacker ,
G Skog  and
R Muscheler
F Adolphi*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, S-22362 Lund, Sweden
D Güttler
Affiliation:
Department of Ion Beam Physics, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
L Wacker
Affiliation:
Department of Ion Beam Physics, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
G Skog
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, S-22362 Lund, Sweden
R Muscheler
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, S-22362 Lund, Sweden
*
2Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

We conducted an interlaboratory comparison between our radiocarbon-related research group at Lund University and the established ETH-Zurich facility to test the quality of the results obtained in Lund and to identify sources of potential background differences and scatter. We did find differences between the 2 laboratories in the contributions of chemical preparation, graphitization, and measurements to the overall background. The resulting overall background is, however, almost similar. Multiple measurements on 2 wood samples of known calendar age yield consistent and accurate 14C ages in both laboratories. However, one of our known samples indicates that IntCal09 is ≃38 ± 16 14C BP too young at 7020 calendar yr BP, which is consistent with one of the raw data sets contributing to IntCal09. Overall, our results show that a systematic approach to compare the different steps involved in 14C age determination is a useful exercise to pinpoint targets for improvement of lab routines and assess interlaboratory differences. These effects do not necessarily become apparent when comparing 14C measurements that integrate over the whole process of preparation and measurement of different laboratories.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 391 - 400
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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