The Radon Problem in 14 C Dating

• Published in: Radiocarbon
• Main Author: Nydal, Reidar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1983
• Subjects: Norway; Svalbard
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200005798; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033822200005798

Due to traces of radium and uranium in most 14 C samples, radon appears as a radioactive contamination in the CO 2 prepared by combustion. This contamination must be removed by an active purification prodecure or by storing the CO 2 prior to measurement. No effective electronic discrimination against radon and its daughter elements can be performed. The necessary storage time until radon has decayed varies widely, especially for marine shells. The latter material, collected from Norway and Svalbard, has been a main object for the present investigation. In a few cases, a measureable amount of radon may be left even after eight weeks. The behavior of radon and its daughter elements in a CO 2 proportional counter has been studied.