ATMOSPHERIC RADIOCARBON FOR THE PERIOD 1950–2019

2021/11/23 by Quan Hua, Jocelyn Turnbull, Jocelyn C Turnbull +17 · 442 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Accelerator mass spectrometry #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics #Carbon cycle #Climatology #Computer science #Environmental science #Geography #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Northern Hemisphere #Paleontology #Period (music) #Physical geography #Radiocarbon dating #Sampling (signal processing) #Southern Hemisphere

paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/rdc.2021.95

published in Radiocarbon 64(4), 723-745 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 2021/11/23 · openalex created_date 2021/12/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents a compilation of atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1950–2019, derived from atmospheric CO 2 sampling and tree rings from clean-air sites. Following the approach taken by Hua et al. (2013), our revised and extended compilation consists of zonal, hemispheric and global radiocarbon ( 14 C) data sets, with monthly data sets for 5 zones (Northern Hemisphere zones 1, 2, and 3, and Southern Hemisphere zones 3 and 1–2). Our new compilation includes smooth curves for zonal data sets that are more suitable for dating applications than the previous approach based on simple averaging. Our new radiocarbon dataset is intended to help facilitate the use of atmospheric bomb 14 C in carbon cycle studies and to accommodate increasing demand for accurate dating of recent (post-1950) terrestrial samples.

Citations

• Atmospheric Radiocarbon for the Period 1950–2010
• The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
• SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–55,000 Years cal BP
• Discussion Reporting of 14C Data

Cited by

• Old carbon routed from land to the atmosphere by global river systems
• Bomb radiocarbon dating and age estimation of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) of Norway
• Peatland pools are tightly coupled to the contemporary carbon cycle
• Climate Warming and Deglaciation Drive New Peat Formation in the Southern Alps, Aotearoa/New Zealand
• A complete otolith-based bomb radiocarbon chronology for the Baltic Sea and its use in the age validation of regional fishes
• A 15,800 year record of productivity, carbon accumulation and environmental change at Eight Mile Lake and its catchment, central Alaska
• Ongoing regime shift on subarctic Disko Island, Greenland
• Fire activity in the northern Arctic tundra now exceeds late Holocene levels, driven by increasing dryness and shrub expansion
• Drastic peatland regime shift and landscape disturbances connected to warm and cold climate events over the past centuries in subarctic Finland
• Investigating potential radiocarbon anomalies around the time of the Minoan eruption of Thera: A new high-resolution dataset from Groningen
• Human femur and tibia retain primary lamellar bone formed during growth: measurement of anthropogenic radiocarbon in bone cross-sections
• Bomb-radiocarbon signal suggests that soil carbon contributes to chlorophyll a in archival oak leaves
• Reconstructing post‐crisis recovery in the hinterlands of Constantinople: A high‐resolution first‐millennium CE pollen record from Lake Yeniçağa (NW Türkiye)
• Holocene patterns of peat accumulation in Peruvian Amazonia
• Carbon uptake, storage, and allocation patterns contribute to blurring of annual 14 C signals in tree rings
• Millennial-scale carbon-source changes revealed by sedimentary radiocarbon in Arctic lakes
• Long-term ecological studies on the oxbow ecosystems development and fire history in the Drava river valley (Central Europe): Implications for ecological restoration
• Evaluating ecological relationships and niche breadth among historically sympatric Canis taxa using isotope analysis
• Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Soil Carbon Cycling and Its Response to Environmental Change in a Northern Hardwood Forest
• Radiocarbon Isotopic Disequilibrium Shows Little Incorporation of New Carbon in Mineral Soils of a Boreal Forest Ecosystem
• Second Intermediate Period date for the Thera (Santorini) eruption and historical implications. [europepmc]
• Radiocarbon and wood anatomy as complementary tools for generating tree-ring records in Bolivia. [europepmc]
• Making the case for an International Decade of Radiocarbon. [europepmc]
• Sub-annual bomb radiocarbon records from trees in northern Israel. [europepmc]
• Mercury deposition and redox transformation processes in peatland constrained by mercury stable isotopes. [europepmc]
• Biological carbon pump estimate based on multidecadal hydrographic data. [europepmc]
• Longevity Estimates of Canary Palms and Dragon Trees via Radiocarbon Dating: Initial Results. [europepmc]
• Combined Earth observations reveal the sequence of conditions leading to a large algal bloom in Lake Geneva. [europepmc]
• Spring buds of European woody plants have old 14 C age. [europepmc]
• Experimental warming and drying increase older carbon contributions to soil respiration in lowland tropical forests. [europepmc]
• Tipping point-induced abrupt shifts in East Asian hydroclimate since the Last Glacial Maximum. [europepmc]
• Woody legacies of railroad ties from the Southern Atacama Desert used to strengthen Nothofagus obliqua tree-ring chronologies from Northern Patagonia. [europepmc]
• Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Soil Carbon Cycling and Its Response to Environmental Change in a Northern Hardwood Forest. [europepmc]
• Substantial changes in land and forest management led to critical transitions in peatland functioning over the last 700 years. [europepmc]
• Old carbon routed from land to the atmosphere by global river systems. [europepmc]
• Shifting Carbon Fractions in Forest Soils Offset 14 C-Based Turnover Times Along a 1700 m Elevation Gradient. [europepmc]
• Pan-Arctic Peatlands Have Expanded During Recent Warming. [europepmc]
• A Radiocarbon-Based Framework to Assess Soil Organic Carbon Persistence and Vulnerability Across Land-Use Types. [europepmc]
• Millennial-aged peat carbon outgassed by large humic lakes in the Congo Basin. [europepmc]
• Persistence and turnover of soil organic carbon in global drylands. [europepmc]
• A global chronologically standardised database of high-resolution proxy sea-level reconstructions since 1800 CE. [europepmc]

Related

• Atmospheric Radiocarbon for the Period 1950–2010
• SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–55,000 Years cal BP
• Radiocarbon: A key tracer for studying Earth’s dynamo, climate system, carbon cycle, and Sun
• The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
• Global Peak in Atmospheric Radiocarbon Provides a Potential Definition for the Onset of the Anthropocene Epoch in 1965