Study of the effect of fossil organic carbon on 14C in groundwater from Hvinningdal, Denmark

E. Boaretto, L. Thorling, Á E. Sveinbjórnsdóttir, Y. Yechieli, J. Heinemeier

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

The carbonate hydrochemistry of groundwater from the Hvinningdal aquifer (Denmark) was studied by radiocarbon (accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)) and δ13C measurements as a preliminary step towards 14C groundwater dating. The 14C concentrations varied between 30 and 100 percent modern carbon (pMC) in apparent contradiction with tritium (3H) data, which in most cases indicate a post-bomb date. The dilution of 14C can be explained as being due to the combined effect of dissolution of old soil carbonate and oxidation of old organic carbon. The last effect proved to be essential. To calculate this correction the dissolved oxygen concentration was used together with the δ13C values. The combined corrections bring the 14C concentrations up to post-bomb levels in better agreement with the 3H data.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)915-920
Number of pages6
JournalRadiocarbon
Volume40
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1998
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Study of the effect of fossil organic carbon on 14C in groundwater from Hvinningdal, Denmark'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this