Ten years after - The WOCE AMS radiocarbon program

TitleTen years after - The WOCE AMS radiocarbon program
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2000
AuthorsMcNichol, AP, Schneider, RJ, von Reden, KF, Gagnon, AR, Elder, KL, Key, RM, Quay, PD
JournalNuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section B-Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Volume172
Issue1-4
Pagination479-484
Date PublishedOct
ISSN0168-583x
Accession NumberWOS:000165231000083
Abstract

The National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (NOSAMS) Facility is measuring all of the samples collected as part of the US WOCE Program - over 13,000 samples. We designed our extraction lines so that we also measure precise, oceanographically useful delta C-13-Sigma CO2 values. We have completed the analysis of samples from the Pacific and Southern Oceans and are processing those from the Indian Ocean now. At present, this constitutes the world's largest AMS data set. Reviews of the Pacific radiocarbon data are available and demonstrate the increased penetration of the "bomb signal" into the water column since the 1970s. Stable isotope data are being combined with those collected as part of NOAA's Ocean-Atmosphere Carbon Exchange Study to study the ocean's role in the anthropogenic CO2 cycle. The relationship of delta C-13 to other chemical tracers, e.g., PO4, O-2 and chlorofluorocarbons, will further our understanding of basic oceanographic processes. We present preliminary results from these studies as well as investigate the relationship of C-14 to C-13 in the ocean. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI10.1016/S0168-583x(00)00093-8