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PERFORMANCE AND INTER-COMPARISON TESTS OF THE MICADAS AT THE RADIOCARBON LABORATORY OF LANZHOU UNIVERSITY, CHINA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2022

Huihui Cao Open the ORCID record for Huihui Cao [Opens in a new window] ,
Zongli Wang ,
Jianhua He ,
Jiale Guo ,
A J Timothy Jull ,
Aifeng Zhou Open the ORCID record for Aifeng Zhou [Opens in a new window] ,
Guanghui Dong  and
Fahu Chen
Huihui Cao
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
Zongli Wang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
Jianhua He
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
Jiale Guo
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
A J Timothy Jull
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre (ICER), Institute for Nuclear Research Bem ter 18/c, 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
Aifeng Zhou*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
Guanghui Dong
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
Fahu Chen
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental System, Ministry of Education, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science (LATPES), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
*
*Corresponding authors. Emails: zlwang@lzu.edu.cn; zhouaf@lzu.edu.cn
*Corresponding authors. Emails: zlwang@lzu.edu.cn; zhouaf@lzu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Since 2018, the radiocarbon laboratory of Lanzhou University has been equipped with a compact accelerator mass spectrometer—a 200-KV mini carbon dating system (MICADAS), together with an auto graphitization equipment (AGE III). The laboratory has for a long time prepared graphite targets for 14C dating of plant fossils, charcoal, bones, and bulk organic matter. Herein, we give an overview of the operating status and performance of the dating facility. The long-term measurements of the standard and blank samples indicated that the results for MICADAS in Lanzhou University were accurate and stable and of high sensitivity. Fifteen sets of organic materials collected from archaeological sites in northwest China were selected for an inter-comparison study involving the participation of four specialist laboratories. The 14C dating results for the homogenized archaeological samples from several of the laboratories showed a high degree of consensus. The long-term performance and inter-comparison data for MICADAS confirmed that the radiocarbon laboratory of Lanzhou University could provide stable and accurate 14C dating results. In this context, the 14C dating results for a number of key archaeological/environmental samples were validated.

Keywords

accelerator mass spectrometryarchaeology14C datinginter-comparison studyrunning status
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 41 - 50
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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