Radiocarbon in tropospheric CO2 and organic materials from selected northern hemisphere sites

Abstract

Radiocarbon was measured in atmospheric CO2 from La Jolla, California and in living organic materials from six sites in the northern hemisphere. In general, agreement was found between the atmospheric CO2 or tree-ring Δ14C records available for the Northern Hemisphere and the Δ14C signatures of rapidly exchanging organic matter pools examined in this study. Exceptions were the Δ14C values of carbonate from eggs shells and that of organic carbon from egg inside, which demonstrate that bicarbonate and organic carbon within the egg follow different biochemical pathways.