To send samples to Keck-CCAMS at the UC Irvine for analysis, the following steps are required:
Submitters, and in particular those making their first application, must make contact with the laboratory to discuss their requirements prior to actually submitting samples. Please see the Guidance Document below to identify the appropriate contact(s) for your application (i.e., (1) terrestrial C cycle & atmospheric chemistry, (2) ocean science, or (3) archeology, paleoclimatatology, paleoceanography, paleogenomics or others).
A submission form plus a sample list provided must be filled out (see guidance document) for each group of samples submitted and sent to us via mail, fax or e-mail. A hard copy of both must also accompany the samples.
The AMS prep. laboratory is currently equipped to handle routine processing of charcoal, wood, seed, carbonates, animal remains, etc. However, it is up to the submitter to define and select the materials to be dated: for example, since you know your samples far better than we do, it’s your job to pick out the macrofossils or charcoal to be dated from within the sediment or peat matrix. Specialized services such as pollen or foram picking or individual compound separation are not offered. We discourage the dating of bulk soil, peat, or sediments, because those materials are often a mixture of components with widely differing ages. The preferred minimum sample size for a 14C measurement is 1 mg carbon. The sample sizes quoted in the table below will yield approximately this amount, if the samples are well preserved. If this is not the case, more sample material will be required.
