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Sample Preparation at the Jena 14C Laboratory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2017

A Steinhof ,
M Altenburg  and
H Machts
A Steinhof*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck Institut für Biogeochemie, Hans-Knöll-Str. 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
M Altenburg
Affiliation:
Max-Planck Institut für Biogeochemie, Hans-Knöll-Str. 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
H Machts
Affiliation:
Max-Planck Institut für Biogeochemie, Hans-Knöll-Str. 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Email: steinhof@bgc-jena.mpg.de.
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Abstract

The different categories of samples and their treatments at the radiocarbon (14C) laboratory in Jena, Germany, are described. The Jena 14C laboratory is dedicated to studying the global carbon cycle through the analysis of soil, plant, gas, charcoal, and wood samples. The respective preparation procedures for different samples types are presented, including wet-chemistry pretreatments for soil decalcification, charcoal purification using an acid–base–oxidation procedure (ABOx), and α-cellulose extraction from wood and leaves. In particular, investigations of the background corrections for each sample type are emphasized. Furthermore, an investigation of the contamination resulting from the storage of graphite is presented. Four storage conditions are investigated for storage times up to 30 months.

Keywords

backgroundcharcoalpretreatmentsoilswood
Type
Chemical Pretreatment Approaches
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 3: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , June 2017 , pp. 815 - 830
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

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