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

Adolphi, Florian LU ; Guettler, D. ; Wacker, L. ; Skog, Göran LU and Muscheler, Raimund LU orcid (2013) In Radiocarbon 55(2-3). p.391-400
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 C-14 ages in both laboratories. However, one of our known samples indicates that IntCal09 is similar to 38 +/- 16 C-14 BP too young at 7020 calendar yr BP, which is... (More)
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 C-14 ages in both laboratories. However, one of our known samples indicates that IntCal09 is similar to 38 +/- 16 C-14 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 C-14 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 C-14 measurements that integrate over the whole process of preparation and measurement of different laboratories. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Radiocarbon
volume
55
issue
2-3
pages
391 - 400
publisher
Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)
external identifiers
  • wos:000325752100023
  • scopus:84884357921
ISSN
0033-8222
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f33ff4bd-9270-4086-9db3-e66a01a8f9bc (old id 4171598)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:01:00
date last changed
2022-01-27 22:22:34
@article{f33ff4bd-9270-4086-9db3-e66a01a8f9bc,
  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 C-14 ages in both laboratories. However, one of our known samples indicates that IntCal09 is similar to 38 +/- 16 C-14 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 C-14 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 C-14 measurements that integrate over the whole process of preparation and measurement of different laboratories.}},
  author       = {{Adolphi, Florian and Guettler, D. and Wacker, L. and Skog, Göran and Muscheler, Raimund}},
  issn         = {{0033-8222}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2-3}},
  pages        = {{391--400}},
  publisher    = {{Arizona Board of Regents (University of Arizona)}},
  series       = {{Radiocarbon}},
  title        = {{Intercomparison of C-14 Dating of Wood Samples at Lund University and Eth-Zurich Ams Facilities: Extraction, Graphitization, and Measurement}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}