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THE ACCURACY AND PRECISION OF SMALL-SIZED MODERN WOOD SAMPLES ANALYZED AT THE CHRONOS 14CARBON-CYCLE FACILITY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2023

Heather A Haines Open the ORCID record for Heather A Haines [Opens in a new window] ,
William T Hiscock ,
Jonathan G Palmer Open the ORCID record for Jonathan G Palmer [Opens in a new window] ,
Chris S M Turney ,
Zoë A Thomas Open the ORCID record for Zoë A Thomas [Opens in a new window] ,
Haidee Cadd ,
Juee Vohra  and
Christopher E Marjo
Heather A Haines*
Affiliation:
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), NSW, 2052, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW Node, Australia Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
William T Hiscock
Affiliation:
Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
Jonathan G Palmer
Affiliation:
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), NSW, 2052, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW Node, Australia Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
Chris S M Turney
Affiliation:
Division of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia
Zoë A Thomas
Affiliation:
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (UNSW), NSW, 2052, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UNSW Node, Australia Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
Haidee Cadd
Affiliation:
Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong (UoW), NSW, 2522, Australia ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, UoW Node, Australia
Juee Vohra
Affiliation:
Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
Christopher E Marjo
Affiliation:
Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre (ESSRC), School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: h.haines@unsw.edu.au
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Abstract

Tree-ring series offer considerable potential for the development of environment-sensitive proxy records. However, with traditional increment cores, only small amounts of wood are often available from annual tree-ring sequences. For this reason, it is important to understand the reliability (and reproducibility) of radiocarbon measurements obtained from small-sized samples. Here we report the F14C results from the Chronos 14Carbon-Cycle Facility of modern tropical Australian tree samples over a range of four graphite target sizes from the same rings. Our study shows that similar precision can be obtained from full-sized, half-sized, as well as small-sized graphite targets using standard pretreatment and analysis procedures. However, with a decline in sample size, there was an increase seen in the associated variance of the ages and the smallest target weights started showing a systematic bias. Wiggle-matching accuracy tests, comparing the Southern Hemisphere post-bomb atmospheric calibration curve to the different sample weight sequences, were all significant except for the 200 μgC graphite targets. Our results indicate that samples smaller than 350 μgC have limited accuracy and precision. Overall, reliable measurements of F14C sequences from tree-ring records across a range of sample sizes, with best results found using graphitized samples >350 μgC.

Keywords

environmental changeF14CMIni CArbon DAting System (MICADAS)small sample sizetree rings
Type
Technical Note
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , April 2023 , pp. 561 - 571
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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