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We would like to invite all interested participants to a lecture by Dr Irka Hajdas from ETH Zurich entitled: "From meeting the last Neanderthals to the nuclear tests - 14C record of our past and present".

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, 17.05.2023 at 14:00 CET in Hall B of the Education and Congress Centre, 18B Konarskiego Street. It is organised by the Department of Geochronology and Environmental Isotope Research of the CND Institute of Physics. The lecture takes place as part of the implementation of the pro-quality programme on investment in the development of internationalisation under the Excellence Initiative - Research University Programme.

The cosmogenic and radioactive isotope of carbon ¹⁴C is used as a tracer and a clock. Analysis of carbon-bearing material provides information on the isotopic composition, i.e., the ¹⁴C/¹²C ratio. In the 2^nd half of the last century, the method revolutionized archeology and environmental studies because it provided the much-needed chronometer for deposits of organic and inorganic carbon. Critical developments in human history such as migration, settlements, and cultural heritage) have been dated using ¹⁴C, as well as the environmental changes and events. The modern techniques allow ¹⁴C analysis on a molecular level, opening the field to new applications.

This lecture will give an overview of the potential to study the past and present environment. Anthropogenic activities have changed the ¹⁴C pools in nature and continue to do so. The combustion of fossil carbon contributes to global warming and the aging of the atmosphere (Suess effect). Radiocarbon analysis is an excellent tool for detecting fossil carbon, which can be used in environmental monitoring (fossil CO₂ pollution, biofuels, and bioplastic). The other anthropogenic effect on natural ¹⁴C is the artificially (nuclear) produced ¹⁴C. Until recently, the excess produced in above-ground atomic tests (1952-1963) remained a characteristic signal of the post-1950 atmosphere. The so-called bomb peak has been used as a tracer and time marker, for example for the onset of the Anthropocene.

We welcome all interested Participants!