Chronologies for recent peat deposits using wiggle-matched radiocarbon ages: problems with old carbon contamination

Reproduced with permission of the publisher. © 2005 by the Arizona Board of Regents of behalf of the University of Arizona.Dating sediments which have accumulated over the last few hundred years is critical to the calibration of longer-term paleoclimate records with instrumental climate data. We attempted to use wiggle-matched radiocarbon ages to date 2 peat profiles from northern England which have high-resolution records of paleomoisture variability over the last ~300 yr. A total of 65 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements were made on 33 macrofossil samples. A number of the age estimates were older than expected and some of the oldest ages occurred in the upper parts of the sequence, which had been dated to the late 19th and early 20th century using other techniques. We suggest that the older 14C ages are the result of contamination by industrial pollution. Based on counts of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), the potential aging effect for SCP carbon was calculated and shown to be appreciable for samples from the early 20th century. Ages corrected for this effect were still too old in some cases, which could be a result of fossil CO2 fixation, non-SCP particulate carbon, contamination due to imperfect cleaning of samples, or the “reservoir effect” from fixation of fossil carbon emanating from deeper peat layers. Wiggle matches based on the overall shape of the depth-14C relationship and the 14C minima in the calibration curve could still be identified. These were tested against other age estimates (210Pb, pollen, and SCPs) to provide new age-depth models for the profiles. New approaches are needed to measure the impact of industrially derived carbon on recent sediment ages to provide more secure chronologies over the last few hundred years

A rapid method to collect methane from peatland streams for radiocarbon analysis

Peatland streams typically contain high methane concentrations and act as conduits for the release of this greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Radiocarbon analysis provides a unique tracer that can be used to identify the methane source, and quantify the time elapsed between carbon fixation and return to the atmosphere as CH4. Few studies – those that have focus largely on sites with bubble (ebullition) emissions – have investigated the14C age of methane in surface waters because of the difficulty in collecting sufficient CH4for analysis. Here, we describe new sampling methods for the collection of CH4samples from CH4-oversaturated peatland streams for radiocarbon analysis. We report the results of a suite of tests, including using methane14C standards and replicated field measurements, to verify the methods. The methods are not restricted to ebullition sites, and can be applied to peatland streams with lower methane concentrations. We report the14C age of methane extracted from surface water samples (~4–13 l) at two contrasting locations in a temperate raised peat bog. Results indicate substantial spatial variation with ages ranging from ~400 (ditch in afforested peatland) to ~3000 years BP (bog perimeter stream). These contrasting ages suggest that methane in stream water can be derived from a wide range of peat depths. This new method provides a rapid (10–15 min per sample) and convenient approach, which should make14CH4dating of surface water more accessible and lead to an increased understanding of carbon cycling within the soil–water–atmosphere system

Leakage of old carbon dioxide from a major river system in the Canadian Arctic

The Canadian Arctic is warming at an unprecedented rate. Warming-induced permafrost thaw can lead to mobilization of aged carbon from stores in soils and rocks. Tracking the carbon pools supplied to surrounding river networks provides insight on pathways and processes of greenhouse gas release. Here, we investigated the dual-carbon isotopic characteristics of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) pool in the main stem and tributaries of the Mackenzie River system. The radiocarbon (14C) activity of DIC shows export of “old” carbon (2,380 ± 1,040 14C years BP on average) occurred during summer in sampling years. The stable isotope composition of river DIC implicates degassing of aged carbon as CO2 from riverine tributaries during transport to the delta; however, information on potential drivers and fluxes are still lacking. Accounting for stable isotope fractionation during CO2 loss, we show that a large proportion of this aged carbon (60 ± 10%) may have been sourced from biospheric organic carbon oxidation, with other inputs from carbonate weathering pathways and atmospheric exchange. The findings highlight hydrologically connected waters as viable pathways for mobilization of aged carbon pools from Arctic permafrost soils

Radiocarbon analysis reveals that vegetation facilitates the release of old methane in a temperate raised bog

Peatlands have accumulated vast quantities of organic carbon over thousands of years but it is unclear how these sensitive ecosystems will respond to future climate change. If emissions of methane from peatlands increase, then they may contribute increasingly towards climatic warming due to the higher greenhouse warming potential of this gas. We investigated the radiocarbon concentration of methane emissions from a temperate bog over 1.5 years, which we supported with measurements of the surface flux of methane and carbon dioxide. The radiocarbon content of methane emissions varied greatly, from modern (i.e. fixed from the atmosphere within recent decades) to ~ 1400 years BP. Flux rates of methane were spatially and temporally highly variable. A vegetation clipping experiment showed that plants had a great influence on the carbon isotope composition and flux of methane emitted from the peat surface, consistent with earlier studies showing the key role of plants in peatland methane emissions. When plants were absent, emission rates were 70–94% lower and the radiocarbon age of methane emissions was much younger and less variable. Our radiocarbon measurements show that at this peatland, plant-associated methane emissions contain carbon originally fixed from the atmosphere up to hundreds of years earlier, consistent with a contribution from plant mediated transport of methane sourced from sub-surface layers

Discrete taxa of saprotrophic fungi respire different ages of carbon from Antarctic soils

Different organic compounds have distinct residence times in soil and are degraded by specific taxa of saprotrophic fungi. It hence follows that specific fungal taxa should respire carbon of different ages from these compounds to the atmosphere. Here, we test whether this is the case by radiocarbon (14C) dating CO2 evolved from two gamma radiation-sterilised maritime Antarctic soils inoculated with pure single cultures of four fungi. We show that a member of the Helotiales, which accounted for 41–56% of all fungal sequences in the two soils, respired soil carbon that was aged up to 1,200 years BP and which was 350–400 years older than that respired by the other three taxa. Analyses of the enzyme profile of the Helotialean fungus and the fluxes and δ13C values of CO2 that it evolved suggested that its release of old carbon from soil was associated with efficient cellulose decomposition. Our findings support suggestions that increases in the ages of carbon respired from warmed soils may be caused by changes to the abundances or activities of discrete taxa of microbes, and indicate that the loss of old carbon from soils is driven by specific fungal taxa

Advances in the radiocarbon analysis of carbon dioxide at the NERC radiocarbon facility (East Kilbride) using molecular sieve cartridges

Radiocarbon (14C) analysis of carbon dioxide (CO2) provides unique information on the age, turnover and source of this important greenhouse gas, raising the prospect of novel scientific investigations into a range of natural and anthropogenic processes. To achieve these measurements, cartridges containing zeolite molecular sieves are a reliable and convenient method for collecting CO2 samples. At the NERC Radiocarbon Facility (East Kilbride) we have been refining our molecular sieve methods for over twenty years to achieve high-quality, reproducible and precise measurements. At the same time, we have been developing novel field sampling methods to expand the possibilities in collecting gas from the atmosphere, soil respiration and aquatic environments. Here, we present our latest improvements to cartridge design and procedures. We provide the results of tests used to verify the methods using known 14C content standards, demonstrating reliability for sample volumes of 3 mL CO2 (STP; 1.6 mg C) collected in cartridges that had been prepared at least three months earlier. We also report the results of quality assurance standards processed over the last two years, with results for 22 out of 23 international 14C standards being within measurement uncertainty of consensus values. We describe our latest automated procedures for the preparation of cartridges prior to use

Ancient dissolved methane in inland waters revealed by a new collection method at low field concentrations for radiocarbon (14C) analysis

Methane (CH4) is a powerful greenhouse gas that plays a prominent role in the terrestrial carbon (C) cycle, and is released to the atmosphere from freshwater systems in numerous biomes globally. Radiocarbon (14C) analysis can indicate both the age and source of CH4 in natural environments. In contrast to CH4 present in bubbles released from aquatic sediments (ebullition), dissolved CH4 in lakes and streams can be present in low concentrations compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), and therefore obtaining sufficient aquatic CH4 for radiocarbon (14C) analysis remains a major technical challenge. Previous studies have shown that freshwater CH4, in both dissolved and ebullitive form, can be significantly older than other forms of aquatic C, and it is therefore important to characterise this part of the terrestrial C balance. This study presents a novel method to capture sufficient amounts of dissolved CH4 for 14C analysis in freshwater environments by circulating water across a hydrophobic, gas-permeable membrane and collecting the CH4 in a large headspace volume. The results of laboratory and field tests show that reliable dissolved δ13CH4 and 14CH4 samples can be readily collected over short time periods (∼4–24h), at relatively low cost and from a variety of surface water types. The initial results further support previous findings that dissolved CH4 may be significantly older than other forms of aquatic C, and is currently unaccounted for in many terrestrial C balances and models. This method is suitable for use in remote locations, and could potentially be used to detect the leakage of unique 14CH4 signatures from point sources into waterways, e.g. coal seam gas and landfill gas

The age of CO2 released from soils in contrasting ecosystems during the arctic winter

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work accepted for publication by Elsevier. Changes resulting from the publishing process, including peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms, may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 63, pp. 1 – 4 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.03.011In arctic ecosystems, winter soil respiration can contribute substantially to annual CO2 release, yet the source of this C is not clear. We analysed the 14C content of C released from plant-free plots in mountain birch forest and tundra-heath. Winter-respired CO2 was found to be a similar age (tundra) or older (forest) than C released during the previous autumn. Overall, our study demonstrates that the decomposition of older C can continue during the winter, in these two contrasting arctic ecosystems

No evidence for compensatory thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration in the study of Bradford et al. (2008)

Bradford et al. (2008) conclude that thermal adaptation will reduce the response of soil microbial respiration to rising global temperatures. However, we question both the methods used to calculate mass-specific respiration rates and the interpretation of the results. No clear evidence of thermal adaptation reducing soil microbial activity was produced

The potential hidden age of dissolved organic carbon exported by peatland streams

Radiocarbon (14C) is a key tracer for detecting the mobilization of previously stored terrestrial organic carbon (C) into aquatic systems. Old C (>1,000 years BP) may be “masked” by postbomb C (fixed from the atmosphere post‐1950 CE), potentially rendering bulk aquatic dissolved organic C (DOC) 14C measurements insensitive to old C. We collected DOC with a modern 14C signature from a temperate Scottish peatland stream and decomposed it to produce CO2 under simulated natural conditions over 140 days. We measured the 14C of both DOC and CO2 at seven time points and found that while DOC remained close to modern in age, the resultant CO2 progressively increased in age up to 2,356 ± 767 years BP. The results of this experiment demonstrate that the bulk DO14C pool can hide the presence of old C within peatland stream DOC export, demonstrating that bulk DO14C measurements can be an insensitive indicator of peatland disturbance. Our experiment also demonstrates that this old C component is biologically and photochemically available for conversion to the greenhouse gas CO2, and as such, bulk DO14C measurements do not reflect the 14C signature of the labile organic C pool exported by inland water systems more broadly. Moreover, our experiment suggests that old C may be an important component of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from peatland aquatic systems, with implications for tracing and modeling interactions between the hydrological and terrestrial C cycles