Radiocarbon dating, reservoir effects, and calibration

摘要

We summarize how radiocarbon measurements are made using accelerator mass spectrometry. We also discuss some complications inherent in the radiocarbon-dating method when calibrating radiocarbon dates to calendar dates. For example, measurements of radiocarbon (~(14)C) in some types of materials are complicated by a "reservoir effect", caused by an apparent age of the source reservoir that differs from the contemporary atmospheric surface ~(14)C value. In other cases, mobile carbon sources in nature can produce mixed sources of carbon. We explore these effects and discuss their possible implications for ~(14)C measurements and how we can deal with them.