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Comparison of 14C Collected by Precipitation and Gas-Strip Methods for Dating Groundwater

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

Kotaro Nakata ,
Takuma Hasegawa ,
Teruki Iwatsuki  and
Toshihiro Kato
Kotaro Nakata*
Affiliation:
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Backend Research Center, Abiko Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 1646 Abiko, Abiko-shi, Chiba-ken 270-1194, Japan.
Takuma Hasegawa
Affiliation:
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Backend Research Center, Abiko Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, 1646 Abiko, Abiko-shi, Chiba-ken 270-1194, Japan.
Teruki Iwatsuki
Affiliation:
Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 1-64, Yamanouchi, Akeyo, Mizunami, Gifu, 509-6132, Japan.
Toshihiro Kato
Affiliation:
Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 1-64, Yamanouchi, Akeyo, Mizunami, Gifu, 509-6132, Japan.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: k-nakata@criepi.denken.or.jp.
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Abstract

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in groundwater is used to estimate the residence time based on radiocarbon concentration. DIC is usually extracted by a gas-strip or precipitation (SrCO3 or BaCO3) method. In this study, the gas-strip and precipitation methods of DIC were applied to both artificially prepared NaHCO3 solutions and natural groundwater to estimate the certainty of the two methods for 14C dating. 14C values obtained by the gas-strip method for NaHCO3 solutions with distinct salinity, DIC, and 14C concentrations were close to the theoretically predicted 14C value based on the 14C value of NaHCO3 powder. Conversely, the 14C value obtained by the precipitation method always showed higher values than the predicted values. The difference in 14C value between the gas-strip and precipitation methods was assumed to be caused by the contamination of modern carbon in the NaOH solution used in the precipitation method. The contamination of modern carbon derived from the NaOH solution during precipitation was found to range from less than 1 mg/L to about 1 mg/L. The applicability of the precipitation method for groundwater should be considered carefully according to the DIC, 14C concentration of groundwater, and purpose of the study being conducted.

Keywords

groundwaterdissolved inorganic carbonprecipitationgas strip
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 491 - 503
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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