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ATMOSPHERIC RADIOCARBON FOR THE PERIOD 1950–2019

Quan Hua, Jocelyn Turnbull, Guaciara M. Santos, Andrzej Rakowski, Santiago Ancapichún, Ricardo De Pol‐Holz, Samuel Hammer, Scott J. Lehman, Ingeborg Levin, J. B. Miller,

Radiocarbon · 2021 · 418 citations · 91 references

DOI Full text

Open access

Concepts

Natural SciencesEarth SciencesAtmospheric ChemistryAtmospheric ScienceGeochemistryAtmospheric GeochemistryCarbon CycleCurated Data SetsRadiocarbon Age DatingRadiocarbon ChronologyRadiocarbon Dating In Carbon Cycle StudiesReference Data SetsSimple AveragingTerrestrial Carbon Cycle

TL;DR

The study builds on Hua et al.'s approach to atmospheric radiocarbon. The paper compiles atmospheric radiocarbon from 1950–2019 using CO₂ sampling and tree rings to support carbon‑cycle studies and improve dating of recent terrestrial samples. The compilation extends Hua et al.'s method by providing zonal, hemispheric, and global 14C datasets with monthly resolution for five zones. The new compilation yields smooth zonal curves that improve dating accuracy over prior simple‑averaging methods.

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents a compilation of atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1950–2019, derived from atmospheric CO 2 sampling and tree rings from clean-air sites. Following the approach taken by Hua et al. (2013), our revised and extended compilation consists of zonal, hemispheric and global radiocarbon ( 14 C) data sets, with monthly data sets for 5 zones (Northern Hemisphere zones 1, 2, and 3, and Southern Hemisphere zones 3 and 1–2). Our new compilation includes smooth curves for zonal data sets that are more suitable for dating applications than the previous approach based on simple averaging. Our new radiocarbon dataset is intended to help facilitate the use of atmospheric bomb 14 C in carbon cycle studies and to accommodate increasing demand for accurate dating of recent (post-1950) terrestrial samples.