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A Survey of Environmental 14C Levels in Hong Kong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

P. L. Leung ,
M. J. Stokes ,
S.H. Qiu  and
L. Z. Cai
P. L. Leung
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Material Science, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue Kowloon, Hong Kong
M. J. Stokes
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Material Science, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue Kowloon, Hong Kong
S.H. Qiu
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), 27 Wangfujing Dajie 100710 Beijing, China
L. Z. Cai
Affiliation:
The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), 27 Wangfujing Dajie 100710 Beijing, China
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Abstract

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As an industrialized city, Hong Kong annually consumes a large amount of fossil fuel. In addition, the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, has just begun operation 20 km from Hong Kong. These factors suggest that it may be appropriate and significant to examine the variation of atmospheric 14C levels in Hong Kong. We have collected and tested a variety of samples from different parts of Hong Kong: terrestrial annual grasses, marine plants and atmospheric CO2. We measured their 14C activity and compared it with that of cassia oil samples from Guangxi Province, China. The values obtained indicate that environmental 14C levels in the Hong Kong region agree with those found in Guangxi, both of which are significantly higher than the levels predicted by Povinec, Chudý and Šivo (1986).

Type
IV. 14C as a Tracer of the Dynamic Carbon Cycle in the Current Environment
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 505 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © the Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona 

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