McCallum, K. J., authorRennie, D. A., authorPaul, Eldor A., authorCampbell, C. A., authorWilliams and Wilkins Co., publisher2007-01-032007-01-031967-08Campbell, C. A., E. A. Paul, D. A. Rennie, and K. J. McCallum, Factors Affecting the Accuracy of the Carbon-Dating Method in Soil Humus Studies. Soil Science 104, no. 2 (August 1967): 81-85. https://journals.lww.com/soilsci/Citation/1967/08000/FACTOR_AFFECTING_THE_ACCURACY_OF_THE_CARBONDATING.2.aspx.http://hdl.handle.net/10217/85542This is a non-final version of an article published in final form in Soil Science 104, no. 2 (August 1967): 81-85. Publisher version: http://journals.lww.com/soilsci/Citation/1967/08000/FACTOR_AFFECTING_THE_ACCURACY_OF_THE_CARBONDATING.2.aspx.Factors affecting the accuracy of the carbon-dating method of analysis have been discussed by several workers (1, 3, 13, 14). Since, however, these workers were interested primarily in archeological and geological applications of carbon-dating, they were most concerned with the absolute age of a sample. All "young" materials, for example fulvates, were therefore extracted and discarded before a sample was dated. In soil science it is not the absolute but the average age or mean residence time (m.r.t.) of the soil humus and soil humus components that is important. Thus the presence of younger fractions in a sample does not invalidate the results, and all organic fractions are dated. Some of the factors which might affect the accuracy of this method as applied to soil science were mentioned briefly by Paul et al. (12). This paper presents data and discusses some of these factors more fully. The factors examined are: precision of analytical techniques, isotopic fractionation, incorporation of nuclear-bomb-produced Cl4 into humus, and contamination by re-use or soil-respired CO2.born digitalarticleseng©1967 Williams and Wilkins Co..Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.soil humic fractionscarbon-datingsoil humic componentsText