Standard operation procedures and performance of the MICADAS radiocarbon laboratory at Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Germany

The radiocarbon analysis laboratory at Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is equipped with an accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) MICADAS (MIni CArbon Dating System). The laboratory provides routine C-14 analyses on bulk organic matter, plant fragments, dissolved and particulate organic matter, individual molecular lipids, and carbonate (micro-) fossils with the aim to foster international research efforts in vulnerable high latitudes. The AWI MICADAS allows AMS C-14 analysis on graphite targets as well as on CO2 samples via gas injection into the hybrid ion source. The laboratory thus provides reliable datasets even if only small amounts of sample material are available, a problem often encountered in polar research. Here we describe the standard operation procedures and sample preparation methods employed, and demonstrate the instrument performance and data quality based on repeat analysis of international reference materials.