The Influence of Pretreatment on Humic Acid Yield and 14C Age of Carex Peat
Issue Date
1998-01-01Keywords
time factorFlokadalur Iceland
Iceland
accuracy
mires
bogs
organic acids
humic acids
isotope ratios
Holocene
igneous rocks
pyroclastics
volcanic rocks
organic compounds
Europe
Western Europe
peat
sample preparation
sediments
Cenozoic
Quaternary
methods
C 14
carbon
dates
isotopes
radioactive isotopes
C 13 C 12
stable isotopes
absolute age
geochemistry
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Cook, G. T., Dugmore, A. J., & Shore, J. S. (1998). The influence of pretreatment on humic acid yield and 14C age of Carex peat. Radiocarbon, 40(1), 21-27.Journal
RadiocarbonDescription
From the 16th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Gronigen, Netherlands, June 16-20, 1997.Additional Links
http://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/Abstract
The object of the study was to assess the effects of a range of pretreatment/extraction schemes on the yields of humic acid and humin obtained from peat and the subsequent radiocarbon ages. We analyzed peat from Flokadalur in northern Iceland, collecting material from a profile containing seven visible tephra horizons in the upper 3 m, whose form and extent indicated little disturbance to the section over the last 4000 yr. The results of a range of pretreatments demonstrated that time rather than the strength of alkali is the more important factor governing the extraction of humic acid. An increase in alkali molarity did not correspond to any systematic increase in yield, whereas an increase in time did, implying that the extraction is kinetically controlled. We found no evidence of variability in 14C age due to pretreatment scheme or between different geochemical fractions of the peat. Further implications from this study are that bog stability and ecological simplicity produce a favorable environment for 14C dating.Type
Proceedingstext
Language
enISSN
0033-8222ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1017/S0033822200017835