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TREE RINGS AS ARCHIVES OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION BY FOSSIL CARBON DIOXIDE IN BRATISLAVA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2023

I Kontuľ Open the ORCID record for I Kontuľ [Opens in a new window] ,
P P Povinec ,
M Richtáriková ,
I Svetlik Open the ORCID record for I Svetlik [Opens in a new window]  and
A Šivo
I Kontuľ*
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia
P P Povinec
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia
M Richtáriková
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia
I Svetlik
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, 180 00 Prague, Czech Republic
A Šivo
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: ivan.kontul@fmph.uniba.sk
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Abstract

Results of radiocarbon (14C) analysis of a tree-ring series from Bratislava, Slovakia, covering the period from 1970 to 2004 are presented. For a part of this time period, monthly 14C measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide from Bratislava sampling station are compared with the tree-ring results. The effects of fossil CO2 emissions on 14C levels in the environment are emphasized by comparison with atmospheric clean air reference values (Schauinsland, Germany). The presented results from Bratislava are also set against the previously measured tree-ring series from Low Tatras mountain region in Slovakia, representing regional clean air radiocarbon levels in the biosphere. The observed 14C levels of Bratislava tree rings and atmospheric CO2 in 1970s and 1980s are significantly lower than clean air data, indicating severe fossil CO2 pollution in Bratislava during this time period.

Keywords

carbon dioxideradiocarbontree rings
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 64 , Issue 6: 3rd Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference Gliwice, Poland, July 5–9, 2021 , December 2022 , pp. 1577 - 1585
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 3rd Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference, Gliwice, Poland, 5–9 July 2021

References

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