The NOSAMS sample preparation laboratory in the next millenium: Progress after the WOCE program

TitleThe NOSAMS sample preparation laboratory in the next millenium: Progress after the WOCE program
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2000
AuthorsGagnon, AR, McNichol, AP, Donoghue, JC, Stuart, DR, von Reden, K
JournalNuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume172
Issue172
Pagination409-415
Date PublishedOct
ISSN0168-583x
Accession NumberWOS:000165231000071
Abstract

Since 1991, the primary charge of the National Ocean Sciences AMS (NOSAMS) facility at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been to supply high throughput, high precision AMS C-14 analyses for seawater samples collected as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). Approximately 13,000 samples taken as part of WOCE should be fully analyzed by the end of Y2K. Additional sample sources and techniques must be identified and incorporated if NOSAMS is to continue in its present operation mode.A trend in AMS today is the ability to routinely process and analyze radiocarbon samples that contain tiny amounts (<100 g) of carbon. The capability to mass-produce small samples for C-14 analysis has been recognized as a major facility goal. The installation of a new 134-position MC-SNICS ion source, which utilizes a smaller graphite target cartridge than presently used, is one step towards realizing this goal. New preparation systems constructed in the sample preparation laboratory (SPL) include an automated bank of 10 small-volume graphite reactors, an automated system to process organic carbon samples, and a multi-dimensional preparative capillary gas chromatograph (PCGC). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI10.1016/S0168-583x(00)00201-9