Anomalous dates prior to 1000 yr BP have been reported for near-surface site deposits at Puapua'a in the dry and rocky zone of leeward (west) Hawai'i Island, compared to archipelago-wide earliest cultural layers generally in buried contexts 1000–800 yr BP. Redating and closer examination cannot validate these early dates in cultural association. In the thin sedimentary deposits, preserved cultural materials mostly postdate 600–400 yr BP, but some older materials were incorporated into the layer matrix. The results suggest a much shorter extant chronology of human settlement of this particular zone, whereas earliest sites most likely are preserved in different settings of the Hawaiian Islands.

Grant Kocharov was a man whose life mirrored all the complexity and controversy of the fate of Russia in the second part of the 20th century. Kocharov was a bright, colorful, and ambitious person. He was born in Georgia, and his childhood and youth were not sunny and cloudless. His father died early and it was very difficult for his mother to feed their large family.

The application of traditional gas or liquid scintillation counting (LSC) is necessary for assessing radionuclide activity in countries without operating accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facilities. A simple and relatively inexpensive system of mini gas counters for measurement of radiocarbon in archaeological and environmental samples has been set up recently in the Kraków laboratory (Department of Environmental Physics, University of Mining and Metallurgy). The system is composed of a gas purification and counter filling line, three identical 15-mL copper/quartz counters, active and passive shielding, and an electronic unit with data acquisition. One counter measures 22 mg of carbon as CO2 with efficiency >95% at a background reduced to 0.044 cpm by a NaJ(Tl) guard counter and lead shield. The detection limit (1 σ) for a two-week measurement of 48 mL of CO2 is 0.52 pMC. The corresponding counting error of a 100 pMC environmental sample is 1.3 pMC for 22 mgC (one counter) and 0.75 pMC for 66 mgC (three counters filled with the same sample).

A radiocarbon facility has been installed at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to support interdisciplinary studies including archaeologic, archaeometric, geophysical, and geologic research. The laboratory was built between 1970 and 1973. Initially, a sample pretreatment and combustion system designed for a proportional CO2 counting system was installed. It was designed after concepts developed at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and New Zealand (Institute of Nuclear Sciences) Laboratories, and began processing samples in November 1972.

Radiocarbon activity of successive parts of Pleistocene and Holocene ooids and mollusk shells from the Persian Gulf, Kuwait, was measured. The inner part of the ooids showed the lowest activity and the cement between grains the highest. Radiocarbon activities correspond to the general stratigraphy and to the position of the sediments. Radiocarbon ages of Pleistocene sediments seem to be very low due to recrystallization of aragonite. Higher radiocarbon activity of cement indicates that atmospheric carbon dioxide was involved in the subaerial diagenetic process. The radiocarbon age of well-preserved mollusk shells seems to be lower than their allegedly Pleistocene geologic age.

Radiometric and AMS radiocarbon dating of a 6-m sediment core from Loch Ness, Scotland, indicates that it represents perhaps the very end of the Late Pleistocene, and the first ca. 7500 yr of the Holocene. Counts of laminations observed in the Holocene section of the core suggest that they are present in sufficient number to constitute annual laminations (varves), an hypothesis consistent with the pollen record, which contains a sequence of zones representative of the Early, Middle and part of the Late Holocene regional vegetation history. On the basis of BSEM and X-ray studies of sediments, and modern seston trap data, the laminations are believed to be produced by winter floods, which introduce increased silt loading into the Loch. Sediment for the rest of the year is mostly composed of clay-sized material. This hypothesis is being further tested, however, by continuing sedimentological and microfossil studies.

Time-depth relations for the core based on calibrated 14C dates and lamination counts, respectively, illustrate the close correspondence between the two sets of data. The latter are therefore now being used to develop a varve chronology for the Holocene for Loch Ness. This will then in turn be used for further chronological studies, and for investigations of palaeoclimatic variations over the eastern North Atlantic, to which the signal of lamination thickness in the sediments is thought to be particularly sensitive. They may also eventually be used for calibration studies, employing 14C dating of specific carbon compounds, or groups of compounds extracted from the sediment using modern organic geochemical methods.

We compared 2 archaeological relics of different preservation environments, white substances adhering to a vessel from the Matsusaki site and to earthenware from Hirohata, by measuring their environmental radioactivity, 14C, 228Ra/226Ra, 234U/238U, and 87Sr/86Sr, and major element contents (Ca, Sr, Mg, Fe, and Mn). The results showed that the 2 materials were somewhat different and also reflected differences in their preservation environments. The chemical elements that were more abundant in the Matsusaki sample than in the Hirohata sample, Fe, Mn, 238U, and 232Th (parent of 228Ra), are also abundant in seaweed or seagrass. Contamination by 14C derived from rainwater after atmospheric nuclear tests was clearly observed in the white substance from Hirohata.

Our studies on 14C chronology and palynology of Holocene sediments in southern Fujian along the western coast of the Taiwan Straits show that the natural environment has undergone three stages of development during the Holocene. From Early Holocene (ca 10,000–8000 yr ago) to Middle Holocene (8000–2500 yr ago) and then to Late Holocene (2500 yr ago), sediments varied from land-sea transitional to marine and then to terrigenous; vegetation altered from mixed forest to evergreen broad-leaf forest and then steppe; climate fluctuated from temperate to hot and then to warm. The sea-level maximum in the post-glacial period occurred at 5000–6000 yr ago, at 5 to 10m elevation. During the subsequent regression, two stable stages of sea-level dated at >3000 and ca 2000 yr ago. The climatic drying and eolian sand deposit began at 700 yr ago. The results agree with our previous studies in southern Liaoning.

The radiocarbon concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater is most logically and completely represented as the product of 5 time-variable factors; these are mutually independent, and all must be considered and evaluated to determine a groundwater residence time. In the case of one factor, the 14C/(12C+13C) ratio of atmospheric CO2, its time variability can be side-stepped by assuming it to be constant at the pre-bomb 1950 value, and assigning an apparent half-life in the radioactive decay term. Apparent half-lives are calculated here for 5 separate periods extending back to 24,000 BP, working from the INTCAL98 atmospheric calibration. This approach can be extended further back in time when the necessary atmospheric calibrations are updated with greater certainty. The procedure is applied to the recently-explored Wairau Deep Aquifer, underlying central areas of the coastal Wairau Plain, Marlborough. The evolution of dissolved inorganic carbon concentration for this river-recharged groundwater is apparent from distinct trends in 13C, and is confirmed by hydrochemical modelling. Extension to the 14C concentrations yields minimum/maximum limits for groundwater residence times to 3 wells. In all 3 cases, the maximum is uncertain due to present uncertainty of the apparent half-life applicable before 24,000 BP. Residence times for the 2 wells closest to the recharge area are at least 17,400 yr, while that for a well further down the aquifer is at least 38,500 yr. Recharge, therefore, occurred during the Otiran glaciation, while the present-day near-surface fluvioglacial deposits of the Wairau Plain were accumulating. Drawdown-recovery records over 3 yr indicate a permeable connection to compensating recharge, enabling limited exploitation for vineyard irrigation.

The chemical form of 14C released from irradiated stainless steel is a key parameter in the safety assessment of the subsurface disposal system in Japan. In this study, to identify the chemical form of the released carbon, unirradiated stainless-steel powders, which were found to be water-atomized powders with a silicon oxide film, were immersed in NaOH and HCl solutions under low-oxygen conditions for approximately 25 days. The results showed that the main chemical forms of the carbon were colloidal carbon in the NaOH solution and colloidal carbon and formic and acetic acids in the HCl solution. Almost no hydrocarbons were detected in both solution systems. Concerning the source of the colloidal carbon and carboxylic acids, the hypothesis that carbon in the oxide layer is released is considered to be reasonable. The very small amounts of hydrocarbons generated prevented us from discussing the source of the hydrocarbons. To validate the hypothesis and obtain further information on the hydrocarbons, additional experiments are necessary. In particular, for long-term safety assessment, it is important to determine whether the colloidal carbon, carboxylic acids and hydrocarbons are continuously released during the corrosion process. Therefore, information on the temporal evolution of the carbon should be obtained.

The accelerator mass spectrometry facility at Seoul National University (SNU-AMS) began functioning in December 1998 and was first reported at the Vienna AMS conference in October 1999 and at the 17th Radiocarbon Conference in Israel in June 2000. At the Vienna conference, we reported our accelerator system (Kim et al. 2000) and the basic sample preparation system (Lee et al. 2000), including the combustion line to produce CO2; the catalytic reduction line for the graphitization of CO2; and also pretreatment procedures for wood, charcoal, and peat samples. Recent progress of the AMS facility (Kim et al. 2001) and extension of the sample pretreatment system to iron and bone samples were reported at the 17th Radiocarbon Conference (Cheoun et al. 2001). In the meantime, extensive testing of accuracy and reproducibility has been carried out, and ∼1000 unknown archaeological and geological samples have been measured every year. A report of data carried out in 1999 is presented by Kim et al. (this issue). In this report, the archaeological, geological, and environmental data carried out in 2000 are presented in terms of yr BP.

The accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility at Seoul National University (SNU-AMS) was accepted in December 1998 and results reported first at the Vienna AMS conference in October 1999 and at the 17th Radiocarbon Conference in Israel, June 2000. At the Vienna conference, we reported our accelerator system and sample preparation systems (Kim et al. 2000). Recent developments of the AMS facility have been regularly reported at AMS conferences (Kim et al. 2001, 2004, 2007). Meanwhile, about 1000 unknown archaeological, geological, and environmental samples have been measured every year. In this report, the archaeological and geological data carried out in 2002 are presented in terms of years BP (before present, AD 1950), following the SNU-AMS date lists I and II published in Radiocarbon (Kim et al. 2006a,b).