T02_P22

Assessing a one-for-all alpha-cellulose procedure for ¹⁴C analysis of fossil to post-bomb ages

Santos G¹,  Komatsu A¹, Renteria J¹, Brandes A², Leong C¹, Collado S³, De Pol-Holz R³

¹University of California, Irvine, Irvine,, United States, ²Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói,, Brazil, ³Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile

Cellulose is an important component in plants’ cell walls and is often separated from other compounds, such as hemicelluloses, lignin and extractives by chemical steps in order to be utilized in isotopic studies. In ¹⁴C analysis, reliable ages are fundamental, including those at the extremes of the ¹⁴C age array, i.e., post-bomb 1950 AD and ¹⁴C limit (beyond 50 kyrs). Finding a one-for-all procedure that can accurately provide results that satisfy the large ¹⁴C age spectrum can be challenging. Therefore, any procedure and/or procedures that whereby can make wood cleaning or cellulose-rich residual fraction extractions easier, faster and reliable for the full ¹⁴C age spectrum are preferable. Here, we describe a simple and fast manual procedure that can be easily scaled up or down as desired, as well as modified on demand (depending on samples requirements). Same-day or three-days are needed to extract chipped wood to alpha-cellulose homogenized fibers from batches of ≤ 10 to 40 samples, respectively. Procedure setup (e.g., reagents, laboratory instrumentation and consumables) are relatively simple, as they are all off-the-shelf items that are commercially available. High levels of precision and accuracy was attained from replicates ranging from post-bomb 1950 AD to ¹⁴C limit by using woody reference materials as well as samples from pantropical regions (post-bomb, subfossil and fossil). Results were in the order of 0.3% or better, regardless of the age group studied. Details about this protocol will be shared and discussed.