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14C Dating of Laser-Oxidized Organics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

A. L. Watchman ,
R. A. Lessard ,
A. J. T. Jull ,
L. J. Toolin  and
Weston Blake Jr.
A. L. Watchman
Affiliation:
Centre for Australian Regolith Studies, Australian National University, G.P.O. Box 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia Present address: 192 St.-Omer, Lévis, Québec, Canada G6V 5C7
R. A. Lessard
Affiliation:
Centre d'Optique, Photonique et Laser, Pavillon A.-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1K 7P4
A. J. T. Jull
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis, Physics Department, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
L. J. Toolin
Affiliation:
NSF-Arizona Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis, Physics Department, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA
Weston Blake Jr.
Affiliation:
Terrain Sciences Division, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0E8
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Abstract

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We used a continuous krypton ion laser to rapidly oxidize milligram-sized fragments of coniferous driftwood of known ages, and dated the resulting carbon dioxide by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). AMS 14C ages of non-pretreated young wood from different parts of two logs were within 10% of the ages of conventionally determined alkaline insoluble fractions. The age of the oldest whole wood measured after laser oxidation was within the error ranges of conventional values.

Type
Notes and Comments
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , 1993 , pp. 331 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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