Radiocarbon applications in cosmochemistry and biomedical tracing
Abstract
Accelerator-based radiocarbon analysis of Antarctic H chondrites has allowed terrestrial age determinations which confirm prior pairing determinations. The analyzed meteorites constitute several individual meteorites; one group with average terrestrial ages of 28.2 ± 0.8 ka; and two additional groups with similarly young average terrestrial ages of 1.7 ± 0.7 ka (or <3.1 ka) and 2.0 ± 1.0 ka (or <4.0 ka). Our results hint at preterrestrial juxtaposition of large-scale solar gas-rich and gas-free regions and indicate that regions of very high and low natural thermoluminescence may have existed on the same meteoroid. Biomedical sample handling and carbon isotope dilution for accelerator-based radiocarbon analysis are presented: the combination allows rapid determination of specific 14C activity in highly active (15,000 times modern) or very small (<5μmol carbon) biomedical samples. The key advantage of the method lies in simultaneous determination of both total carbon and 14C, optimizing throughput and avoiding contamination in processing and measurement.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Lipschutz, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Analytical chemistry|Astronomy|Astrophysics|Biomedical research
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