鉴别葡萄酒新法:放射性CO2检测
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2010-03-22 00:26 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Two decades of atomic bomb testing in the atmosphere are yielding(出产,让步) an unexpected bonus for consumers, scientists reported here today at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). It's a new test to determine whether that Bordeaux(波尔多葡萄酒) or burgundy(深紫红色) is from a fine vintage year(好酒酿成的年份,成绩卓著的一年) and commands premium1 price(溢价) or actually is a counterfeit2(假冒的,伪造的) vin ordinaire(廉价葡萄酒) or cheap plonk(劣质酒) worth much less. Graham Jones, Ph.D., who headed the research, said that misrepresenting(歪曲,误传) the vintage — the year the wine was made — is an ongoing3 problem. He is with the University of Adelaide, Australia. Some years bring perfect growing conditions for vineyards in a country or region of a country and the grapes produce exceptional wines that command premium prices. In other years, bad weather, such as heavy late-season rains that bloat(膨胀,肿胀) grapes with water or long hot, dry spells(干旱期) at harvest, means poor quality wines. Some wine experts estimate that up to 5 percent of the fine wine sold today is fake.

"The problem goes beyond ordinary consumers being overcharged for a bottle of expensive wine of a famous winery with a great year listed on the label," Jones pointed4 out. "Connoisseurs5(鉴赏家,内行) collect vintage wines and prices have soared with 'investment wines' selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars a case at auction6."

Jones said the wine industry is fighting forgeries7(伪造) with special seals and high-tech8 labels. The method for authentication9(证明,鉴定) of a wine's vintage may provide added confidence that the vintage on the label is the vintage in the bottle.

In their leading research, Jones and colleagues found that radioactive carbon dioxide produced from atomic bomb tests in the atmosphere absorbed by grapes can be used to accurately10 determine wine vintages. The new technique is similar to radio-carbon dating, used for years to estimate the age of prehistoric11(陈旧的,史前的) objects. It works by comparing the amount of carbon-14 (C-14), a less common form of atmospheric12 carbon, to carbon-12 (C-12), which is more stable and abundant. The ratio(比率) of these two carbon forms, or isotopes14(核素,同位素) , has remained constant in the atmosphere for thousands of years.

"Until the late 1940's all carbon-14 in the Earth's biosphere15(生物圈) was produced by the interaction between cosmic rays and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere," Jones says. "This changed in the late 1940's up to 1963 when atmospheric atomic explosions significantly increased the amount of C-14 in the atmosphere. When the tests stopped in 1963 a clock was set ticking — that of the dilution16(稀释,冲淡) of this "bomb-pulse" C-14 by CO2 formed by the burning of fossil fuels."

He explains that traces of radioactive carbon are captured by the grape plants through the absorption of carbon dioxide and eventually transformed into alcohol and other carbon-based components17 of the wine. The "bomb-pulse" of the atmosphere is eventually absorbed into the wine.

"The year that the grapes were grown fixes the age or vintage of the wine," Jones says.

"The carbon-14 isotope13 ratio of the wine alcohol can therefore be used to determine the vintage of a wine."

The scientists used a highly-sensitive analytical18 device called an accelerator mass spectrometer to determine the C-14 levels in the alcohol components of 20 Australian red wines with vintages from 1958 to 1997 and then compared these measurements to the radioactivity levels of known atmospheric samples. They found that the method could reliably determine the vintage of wines to within the vintage year.

In addition to testing alcohol, measuring the age of other wine components, such as tartaric acid(酒石酸) and various phenolic(酚的) substances, can help improve the reliability19 of the technique for detecting fraud, Jones notes.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 premium EPSxX     
n.加付款;赠品;adj.高级的;售价高的
参考例句:
  • You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
  • Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后,清水便因稀而贵了。
2 counterfeit 1oEz8     
vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的
参考例句:
  • It is a crime to counterfeit money.伪造货币是犯罪行为。
  • The painting looked old but was a recent counterfeit.这幅画看上去年代久远,实际是最近的一幅赝品。
3 ongoing 6RvzT     
adj.进行中的,前进的
参考例句:
  • The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
  • The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
4 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
5 connoisseurs 080d8735dcdb8dcf62724eb3f35ad3bc     
n.鉴赏家,鉴定家,行家( connoisseur的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Let us go, before we offend the connoisseurs. 咱们走吧,免得我们惹恼了收藏家。 来自辞典例句
  • The connoisseurs often associate it with a blackcurrant flavor. 葡萄酒鉴赏家们通常会将它跟黑醋栗口味联系起来。 来自互联网
6 auction 3uVzy     
n.拍卖;拍卖会;vt.拍卖
参考例句:
  • They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
  • They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。
7 forgeries ccf3756c474249ecf8bd23166b7aaaf1     
伪造( forgery的名词复数 ); 伪造的文件、签名等
参考例句:
  • The whole sky was filled with forgeries of the brain. 整个天空充满了头脑里臆造出来的膺品。
  • On inspection, the notes proved to be forgeries. 经过检查,那些钞票证明是伪造的。
8 high-tech high-tech     
adj.高科技的
参考例句:
  • The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展,这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
  • The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。
9 authentication jO5yS     
鉴定,认证
参考例句:
  • Computer security technology includes mainly:Authentication,Encryption,Access Control,Auditing and so on.计算机网络安全技术主要有: 认证授权、数据加密、访问控制、安全审计等。
10 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
11 prehistoric sPVxQ     
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的
参考例句:
  • They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
  • It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。
12 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
13 isotope isotope     
n.同位素
参考例句:
  • The isotope ratio is directly used for comparing oils or gases.同位素比率直接用于比较各种石油或天然气。
  • How to apply a radio isotope?如何运用放射性同位素?
14 isotopes 92848c3160703e48dc3b552ac6f54115     
n.同位素;同位素( isotope的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
  • Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 biosphere 5Ryyu     
n.生命层,生物圈
参考例句:
  • The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
  • The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。
16 dilution pmvy9     
n.稀释,淡化
参考例句:
  • There is no hard and fast rule about dilution.至于稀释程度,没有严格的规定。
  • He attributed this to a dilution effect of the herbicide.他把这归因于除草剂的稀释效应。
17 components 4725dcf446a342f1473a8228e42dfa48     
(机器、设备等的)构成要素,零件,成分; 成分( component的名词复数 ); [物理化学]组分; [数学]分量; (混合物的)组成部分
参考例句:
  • the components of a machine 机器部件
  • Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。
18 analytical lLMyS     
adj.分析的;用分析法的
参考例句:
  • I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
  • As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。
19 reliability QVexf     
n.可靠性,确实性
参考例句:
  • We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
  • I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。
TAG标签: carbon wine grape vintage
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