{"title":"A TIME-INTEGRATED SAMPLER FOR RADIOCARBON ANALYSIS OF AQUATIC METHANE","authors":"M H Garnett, J F Dean","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2024.31","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Freshwater ecosystems are responsible for a large proportion of global methane emissions to the atmosphere. The radiocarbon (<span>14</span>C) content of this aquatic methane is useful for determining the age and source of this important greenhouse gas. Several methods already exist for the collection of aquatic methane for radiocarbon analysis, but they tend to only sample over short periods of time, which can make them unsuitable for characterizing aquatic methane over longer timespans, and vulnerable to missing short-term events. Here, we describe a new time-integrated method for the collection of aquatic methane that provides samples suitable for radiocarbon analysis, that are representative for periods of up to at least 16 days. We report the results of a suite of tests undertaken to verify the reliability of the method, and the <span>14</span>C age of aquatic methane from field trials undertaken at sites within Scotland, UK. We believe that this new method provides researchers with a simple approach that is easily deployable and can be used to collect representative time-integrated samples of methane for radiocarbon analysis from a wide range of aquatic environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Radiocarbon","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2024.31","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GEOCHEMISTRY & GEOPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Freshwater ecosystems are responsible for a large proportion of global methane emissions to the atmosphere. The radiocarbon (14C) content of this aquatic methane is useful for determining the age and source of this important greenhouse gas. Several methods already exist for the collection of aquatic methane for radiocarbon analysis, but they tend to only sample over short periods of time, which can make them unsuitable for characterizing aquatic methane over longer timespans, and vulnerable to missing short-term events. Here, we describe a new time-integrated method for the collection of aquatic methane that provides samples suitable for radiocarbon analysis, that are representative for periods of up to at least 16 days. We report the results of a suite of tests undertaken to verify the reliability of the method, and the 14C age of aquatic methane from field trials undertaken at sites within Scotland, UK. We believe that this new method provides researchers with a simple approach that is easily deployable and can be used to collect representative time-integrated samples of methane for radiocarbon analysis from a wide range of aquatic environments.
期刊介绍:
Radiocarbon serves as the leading international journal for technical and interpretive articles, date lists, and advancements in 14C and other radioisotopes relevant to archaeological, geophysical, oceanographic, and related dating methods. Established in 1959, it has published numerous seminal works and hosts the triennial International Radiocarbon Conference proceedings. The journal also features occasional special issues. Submissions encompass regular articles such as research reports, technical descriptions, and date lists, along with comments, letters to the editor, book reviews, and laboratory lists.