Radiocarbon in tree rings from a clean air region in Slovakia

Abstract

In order to study radiocarbon levels at a clean air location in Slovakia with no significant local anthropogenic effects, we took tree ring samples from a tree in the vicinity of Jasná recreational area in the Low Tatras region in the central part of Slovakia. There are no significant local fossil fuel emission sources, so these samples represent a regional clean air background important for ¹⁴C studies in Slovakia and Central Europe. The growth rings from the sampled tree (European spruce, Picea abies) cover the period from 1911 to 2016. The first part of the data (1911-1952) represents natural radiocarbon levels influenced by Suess effect. The following period exhibits an increase in radiocarbon levels due to atmospheric nuclear weapons tests (Δ¹⁴C maximum of 850‰ in 1964), and then a gradual decrease characterized by an exponential trend with time constant of 14.3 ± 0.5 years. The Δ¹⁴C data from Jasná was used as a reference for comparison with two previously reported modern tree ring data sets from Slovakia. This comparison showed that radiocarbon levels at both locations are lower than clean air reference values, indicating the influence of local fossil fuel emissions.

Keywords: Accelerator mass spectrometry; Radiocarbon; Suess effect; Tree rings.