Spatial Distribution of 14C in Tree Leaves from Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe increase of fossil-fuel-derived CO2 in the atmosphere has led to the dilution of the atmospheric radiocarbon concentration, but due to the costly instrumentation, the continuous atmospheric 14C/12C data is incomplete in developing countries, such as in Indonesia. These data give useful information about the level of local and regional fossil emissions. In this study, 14C AMS measurements of local vegetation and woody plant species samples have been used to estimate the rate of fossil-fuel-derived carbon in the plants, which fix the CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis. Evergreen leaf samples were collected in September 2018 on the island of Bali in different, diverse districts in local and urban areas. The samples from the densely populated areas show observable fossil fuel emissions and show that the Δ14C level is close to zero ‰, similar to the natural level.