Pre-Treatment Procedures and Quality Control at the NERC Radiocarbon Facility-East Kilbride

Bryant, C.L. et al. (2013) Pre-Treatment Procedures and Quality Control at the NERC Radiocarbon Facility-East Kilbride. 21st International Radiocarbon Conference, Paris, France, 09-13 Jul 2012.

Abstract

The NERC Radiocarbon Facility-East Kilbride provides radiocarbon analytical support to Earth and Environmental Scientists over a wide range of science areas, including climate science, biogeochemical cycling of carbon in terrestrial and aquatic systems, and marine, freshwater and polar research. We describe general quality control strategies for assessing accuracy and precision for CO2 and graphite preparation and 14C AMS analysis at the SUERC AMS Laboratory NERC-Recognised Facility. The diversity of sample types and pre-treatments applied in the laboratory has led to a customised approach to the use of process standards, which depends on individual project requirements and the amount and type of sample material available. Internationally recognised (TIRI, VIRI, IAEA) and in-house standard and background materials are used. Standard material may also be provided to external users for testing possible contamination due to sample handling prior to submission of samples to the Facility. We describe the range of pre-treatments and the quality control programme for routine techniques, recently developed methods (eg methane and carbon dioxide sampling and preparation for 14C analysis) and high precision 14C analysis.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Scott, Professor Marian and Bryant, Dr Charlotte and Gulliver, Dr Pauline and Garnett, Dr Mark and Newton, Dr Josanne and Cisneros, Dr Malu and Moreton, Dr Steven and Elliott, Mr Francis and Xu, Dr Sheng and Freeman, Professor Stewart and Murray, Mr Callum and Currie, Mrs Margaret
• Authors: Bryant, C.L., Cisneros-Dozal, M., Currie, M., Elliott, F., Freeman, S.P.H.T., Garnett, M.H., Gulliver, P., Moreton, S.G., Murray, C., Newton, J.A., Scott, E.M., and Xu, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Statistics; College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre