La Jolla Measurements of Radiocarbon in the Oceans

Abstract

The La Jolla Radiocarbon Laboratory has measured carbon-14 concentrations in seawater samples collected from 1957 through 1972. The dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater was extracted on board research vessels and was returned to the laboratory for processing and measurement. Both surface and sub-surface samples were collected, primarily from the Pacific Ocean, but also from the Indian Ocean. The purpose of the seawater measurements was to determine the distribution of bomb-produced radiocarbon in the surface water of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the sub-surface penetration of bomb 14C, the change in 14C/12C ratios with depth, and thus the rate of uptake of bomb 14C by the oceans. This project was the basis of the author's doctoral dissertation (Linick, 1975).