Determination of 14 C in Volcanic Gas By Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

• Published in: Radiocarbon
• Main Authors: Yoshikawa, Hideki, Nakahara, Hiromichi, Imamura, Mineo, Kobayashi, Kouichi, Nakanishi, Takashi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2005
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Archeology; New Zealand; White Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200019718; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033822200019718

Radioactive nuclides such as radiocarbon can be good tracers for investigating the circulation of underground carbon and water. Volcanic gas can be sampled reliably for 14 C analysis and prepared for analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). In this paper, we establish a method for the measurement of 14 C in volcanic gas, and measure the amounts of 14 C in various volcanic gases. Samples of fumarolic gas from some Japanese volcanoes were found to contain 0.5 to 4.2 pMC, while those from White Island in New Zealand contained 2.6 pMC. Dissolved gas from Lake Nyos, Cameroon, contained 0.4 to 4.8 pMC. The data indicate a mixing process between surface carbon and deep carbon.