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Tropospheric 14CO2 at Wellington, New Zealand: the world’s longest record

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Abstract

Measurements of near-sea-level tropospheric Δ14CO2 have been made at Wellington, New Zealand since December 1954; these measurements comprise the longest such record available. The Δ14C rose from −10‰ in 1955 peaking at 695‰ in 1965 as a result of “bomb 14C” production, before falling thereafter to the present day (2005) value of 73‰. The Δ14C peak occurred about 1 year later in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere. The post-1965 fall is due to the transfer of 14C-enriched CO2 to the biospheric and oceanic pools together with ongoing release of 14C-free CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, during an era without major atmospheric nuclear-weapon tests. Time series analysis of the data using Loess decomposition and filtering indicates an approximately exponential decline in excess Δ14CO2 over 1967–2005 with an e-folding time of 18 years. The seasonal cycle from 1954 until 1980 had a maximum in the late (austral) summer, a minimum in winter, with peak-to-trough amplitude that peaked at 20‰ in 1966. For the period 1980–1989, a new seasonal cycle emerged, with a maximum in winter and a minimum in late summer/early autumn and peak-to-trough amplitude of 3.5‰, transitioning to a new seasonal structure after about 1990.

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Acknowledgments

The initial measurements undertaken by Rafter and Ferguson (1957) demonstrated the importance of this time series even in the first year. Maintaining a long term measurement programme such as the Wellington atmospheric 14CO2 record requires the work of many people. We wish to acknowledge all those who have been involved in the data collection, site and equipment maintenance, extraction and measurement procedures and data analysis during the 51 years since the record began. Two Reviewers assisted greatly with their comments. The programme is jointly operated by NIWA and GNS Science, and is currently funded under NIWA contract C01X0204 to the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), P O Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Kim I. Currie

  2. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand

    Gordon Brailsford, Sylvia Nichol, Antony Gomez, Keith R. Lassey & Katja Riedel

  3. Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

    Rodger Sparks

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  1. Kim I. Currie
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  2. Gordon Brailsford
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  3. Sylvia Nichol
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  4. Antony Gomez
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  5. Rodger Sparks
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  6. Keith R. Lassey
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  7. Katja Riedel
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Correspondence to Kim I. Currie.

Appendix

Appendix

Δ14CO2 data from Wellington, New Zealand. Samples up to, and including, June 1987 were collected from Makara, those from July 1988 onwards were collected at Baring Head (see Fig. 1). Data from July 1985 until June 1987 that have been revised since being published by Manning et al. (1990) are indicated with a ‘#’. The dates given are the middle of the sample period. The δ13C is of the CO2 in the NaOH collection solution, not the atmosphere, and is used to correct for the fractionation of 14CO2 during the collection process. The standard deviation (SD) associated with the Δ14C value is calculated in one of two different ways, depending on the analysis method. For samples collected from 1954 to May 1995, the SD is the standard deviation associated with the proportional counting. The SD for samples collected from June 1995 and analysed by AMS is based on multiple measurements made on each sample (Table 3).

Table 3 Δ14CO2 data from Wellington, New Zealand
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Currie, K.I., Brailsford, G., Nichol, S. et al. Tropospheric 14CO2 at Wellington, New Zealand: the world’s longest record. Biogeochemistry 104, 5–22 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-009-9352-6

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