G01_04

Fifty-five years of radiocarbon studies in Bratislava: From the atmosphere to tree rings and wines

Povinec P¹, Kontuľ I¹, Šivo A¹, Ješkovský M¹, Kaizer J¹, Kvasniak J¹, Richtáriková M¹, Zeman J¹

¹Comenius University, Department s of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Bratislava, Slovakia

Radiocarbon investigations in Bratislava started in 1966 with the aim to develop techniques for sampling and measurement of C-14 levels in the air around a nuclear power plant (NPP) which was under construction in Jaslovské Bohunice, about 60 km NE from Bratislava. Simultaneously, a background monitoring station was established in Bratislava to identify contributions from combustion of fossil fuels and possible emissions from the Jaslovské Bohunice NPP. A correlation has been found between atmospheric radiocarbon data measured at both stations when there was a favorable transport of air masses from Jaslovské Bohunice to Bratislava. The radiocarbon concentrations in the heavily polluted atmosphere of Bratislava were during eighties by about 100‰ and at Jaslovské Bohunice by about 50‰ lower than the European clean air represented by the Jungfraujoch radiocarbon data. After 1994, when the industrial activities in the region decreased, the radiocarbon concentrations were similar at both sites, and from 2000 they were close to the European clean air levels. Annual tree rings have been used later as archives of past radiocarbon levels in the biosphere either for solar activity studies or for investigations of fossil fuel and NPP emissions. Atmospheric and tree ring data from the Jaslovské Bohunice NPP were compared with those measured in the polluted Bratislava, as well as with two background monitoring stations. Wine samples have also been found as good archives of past radiocarbon levels in the atmosphere. Their ability to record and preserve past radiocarbon levels has also been utilized for dating of old wines.