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Radiocarbon Dating of Wood Using Different Pretreatment Procedures: Application to the Chronology of Rotoehu Ash, New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

G M Santos ,
M I Bird ,
B Pillans ,
L K Fifield ,
B V Alloway ,
J Chappell ,
P A Hausladen  and
A Arneth
G M Santos*
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
M I Bird
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
B Pillans
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
L K Fifield
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
B V Alloway
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences, Private Bag 2000, Taupo, New Zealand
J Chappell
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
P A Hausladen
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
A Arneth
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Postfach 100164, 07701 Jena, Germany
*
Corresponding author: E-mail: gss103@nuc.anu.edu.au.
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Abstract

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We compare radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ages of wood samples subjected to a conventional acid-base-acid pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABA-SC) with results from the same samples subjected to an acid-base-wet oxidation pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABOX-SC) and cellulose extraction with stepped combustion (CE-SC). The ABOX-SC procedure has been shown previously to lead to lower backgrounds for old charcoal samples. Analyses of relatively uncontaminated “14C-dead” samples of wood suggest that backgrounds of 0.11 ± 0.04 pMC are obtainable for both the ABOX-SC and ABA-SC procedures. Where wood is significantly contaminated the ABOX-SC technique provides significantly better decontamination than either the ABA-SC technique or cellulose extraction alone, although CE-SC can produce comparably low backgrounds to the ABOX-SC procedure.

We also report the application of the ABOX-SC, ABA-SC and CE-SC procedures to wood samples associated with the chronologically controversial Rotoehu Ash eruption, New Zealand. New 14C-AMS dates from wood sampled from below the Rotoehu Ash span an age range of 43–50 ka BP consistent with recently presented OSL dates of 42–44 ka obtained for palaeosols beneath the ash.

Type
I. Becoming Better
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 43 , Issue 2A: Proceedings of the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 3) , 2001 , pp. 239 - 248
Copyright
Copyright © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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