Radiocarbon from Nuclear Tests, II.

As a result of the generation of neutrons in nuclear tests and their subsequent reaction with nitrogen in the atmosphere, considerable man-made C/sup 14/ has been added to the earth's dynamic carbon reservoir. On the basis of the measured neutron yield per unit energy release and on the assumption that about two-thirds of the C/sup 14/ produced falls back as calcium carbonate, Libby has estimated that 10 x 10/sup 27/ atoms of C/sup 14/ have been introduced into the atmosphere as C0/sub 2/. Rafter and Fergusson have shown that the C/sup 14/ concentration in Southern Hemisphere tropospheric CO/sub 2/ has been increasing 2.1 percent per year since 1955. For the Northern Hemisphere, de Vries has suggested an increase of 4.3 percent between 1953 and 1957. The results of Munnich and Vogel point to an increase of about 3.2 percent per year for central Europe and 2 percent per year in South Africa over the period from 1954 to 1957. Considerable interest has been aroused in the possible genetic effects of this increase in the C/sup 14/ concentration ecent data related to this increase are presented together with a brief discussion of the probable distribution of bomb C/sup 14/ within themore » dynamic carbon reservoir. (auth)« less

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