A simple and effective method to remove hydrogen sulfide from fluid and gas samples prior to radiocarbon analysis of CO 2 gas and dissolved inorganic carbon

The radiocarbon content of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC: CO 2(aq) , HCO 3 – , CO 3 2– ) and gaseous CO 2 can provide valuable information for the cycling and residence time of carbon in groundwaters, porewaters, hydrocarbon reservoirs, methane seeps, and hydrothermal systems. Fluids and gases from these systems often contain high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) that interferes with critical steps of the analytical procedure, particularly the reduction of CO 2 to graphite. We developed and tested a simple and effective method to remove H 2 S from water and gas samples prior to graphitization by passing the gas through a silver nitrate solution in dilute nitric acid. The resulting cleaned CO 2 was sufficiently pure to be reduced to graphite by hydrogen on an iron catalyst. The mass of the process blank of this method is negligible (0.45 ± 0.10 μg C, with F 14 C of 0.30 ± 0.20) and almost identical to our process blanks without the H 2 S trap (0.43 ± 0.10 μg C, F 14 C = 0.30 ± 0.10). The method has been successfully applied to samples containing elevated H 2 S from multiple hydrothermal vent fluids

Carbon fibers · Graphite · Hydrocarbon · Hydrogen · Hydrogen sulfide · Hydrothermal circulation · Methane · Nitric acid · CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions · Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry · Industrial Gas Emission Control

• Comprehensive radiocarbon analysis of benzene polycarboxylic acids (BPCAs) derived from pyrogenic carbon in environmental samples

  Open Access•Ulrich M Hanke, L Wacker et al.•Radiocarbon•2017

  Incluir item

• A High-Performance 14 C Accelerator Mass Spectrometry System

  Open Access•M L Roberts, J R Burton et al.•Radiocarbon•2010

  Incluir item

• Radiocarbon in Dissolved Organic Carbon by Uv Oxidation

  Open Access•Li Xu, Mark L Roberts et al.•Radiocarbon•2021

  Incluir item

• The Rapid Preparation of Seawater ΣCO 2 for Radiocarbon Analysis at the National Ocean Sciences Ams Facility

  Open Access•A P McNichol, G A Jones et al.•Radiocarbon•1994

  Incluir item

• The IAEA 14 C Intercomparison Exercise 1990

  Open Access•Kazimierz Rozanski, Willibald Stichler et al.•Radiocarbon•1992

  Incluir item

• Discussion Reporting of 14 C Data

  Open Access•Minze Stuiver, Henry A Polach•Radiocarbon•1977

  Incluir item

• Evaluating sulfur-impurity removal and modern carbon contamination in different preparation methods for radiocarbon dating of soil samples by accelerator mass spectrometry

  Open Access•Jun Koarashi, Erina Takeuchi et al.•Radiocarbon•2025

  Incluir item