COMPATIBILITY OF ATMOSPHERIC (CO2)-C-14 MEASUREMENTS: COMPARING THE HEIDELBERG LOW-LEVEL COUNTING FACILITY TO INTERNATIONAL ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETRY (AMS) LABORATORIES

摘要

Combining atmospheric Delta(CO2)-C-14 data sets from different networks or laboratories requires secure knowledge on their compatibility. In the present study, we compare Delta(CO2)-C-14 results from the Heidelberg low-level counting (LLC) laboratory to 12 international accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories using distributed aliquots of five pure CO2 samples. The averaged result of the LLC laboratory has a measurement bias of 0.3 +/- 0.5 parts per thousand with respect to the consensus value of the AMS laboratories for the investigated atmospheric Delta C-14 range of 9.6 to 40.4 parts per thousand. Thus, the LLC measurements on average are not significantly different from the AMS laboratories, and the most likely measurement bias is smaller than the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) interlaboratory compatibility goal for Delta(CO2)-C-14 of 0.5 parts per thousand. The number of intercomparison samples was, however, too small to determine whether the measurement biases of the individual AMS laboratories fulfilled the WMO goal.