radiocarbon dating Flashcards
all carbon atoms have
6 protons in the nucleus,
but the nucleus may also contain 6, 7, or 8 neutrons
carbon-12
Carbon with 6 protons and 6 neutrons is called carbon-12 (12C).
This is a stable nucleus. 99% of all natural carbon is 12C .
carbon-13
Carbon with 6 protons and 7 neutrons is called carbon-13 (13C).
This is also a stable nucleus. 1% of all natural carbon is 13C .
carbon-14
Carbon with 6 protons and 8 neutrons is called carbon-14 (14C).
This is an unstable radioactive isotope. About 0.001% of carbon atoms
in the atmosphere is 14C.
radioactive carbon
Radioactive carbon (14C) is generated in the upper troposphere when a cosmic ray (typically a proton) hits the nucleus of an atom and produces a neutron (among other things) that is then captured by a nitrogen atom (14N) - In the process the 14N becomes 14C, and a H+ ion (a proton) is released
look at ppt
Atmospheric neutron intensity and 14C production
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- 1948- the neutron intensity in the atmosphere increases
- between 0° and 60° this dependence was a ˜ 200-400% effect - depending on altitude .
14C in atmosphere
14C quickly combines with the oxygen in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide (CO2).
CO2 diffuses in the atmosphere, is dissolved in the ocean, and is taken up by plants via photosynthesis. Animals eat the plants, and ultimately the radiocarbon is distributed throughout the biosphere.
The ratio of 14C to 12C is ~1.5 parts of 14C to 1012 parts of 12C.
14C/12C ≈1.5 x10-12
Carbon present in a plant
- Because the carbon present in a plant comes from the atmosphere the ratio of radiocarbon to stable carbon in the plant is virtually the same as that in the atmosphere
- All animals in the food chain, including carnivores, get their carbon indirectly from plant material.
- all living organisms have the same radiocarbon to stable carbon ratio as the atmosphere.
- When the organism (or a tissue) dies absorption of 14C ceases and the amount of 14C gradually decays
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Decay of 14C
- half-life of 14C is ~5,730 years
- concentration in the atmosphere does not reduce as it is constantly produced in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere
- Radioactive carbon (14C) decays back to nitrogen (14N) emitting an electron (e–) and an antineutrino ( ) with no mass or charge.
- look at ppt
- This radioactivity in living tissue is very weak at about 2.5% of that due to the decay of naturally occurring potassium-40 (40K).
Geiger counter and dating
- you can’t tell if somebody is alive or not using a Geiger counter; flesh is practically opaque to the radiation. The path length in air is about 22 cm.
- After about ten 14C to 14N half-lives (~57,000 years) there is almost no more 14C left in the tissue.
- By measuring 14C content, you can estimate how long ago the tissue died (providing that it isn’t so old that the 14C level is too low to measure accurately)
- A practical limit for accurate dating is 26,000 years (in other words material that is younger than the Last Glacial Maximum), the last period in the Earth’s climate history during the last glacial period when ice sheets were at their greatest extension.
- you can get less accurate dates up to 43,500 years and, some facilities provide rough dates to ~60,000 years.
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Conception
- 1946 suggests that 14c exists in living matter but stops on death
- Any organic compound has an inbuilt nuclear clock
- 1949 tests on sequoia trees of known dates using tree rings proved radiocarbon dating gave correct result
Measuring 14C concentrations- 2 methods
- Radiometric: count decay rate of individual atoms in a sample using a gas
- proportional counter (a form of Geiger counter) or a liquid scintillation counter;
- AMS: you do a complete isotopic analysis in an accelerator mass spectrometer
- (AMS).
- Radiometric dating is relatively cheap (about $300/sample), takes about a month to achieve satisfactory statistics, requires about a 100 grams. It is a good method for averaging material composed of material of various ages (lake sediments etc.).
- AMS dating is relatively expensive (about $600/sample or more depending on prep. time needed ), takes about a week, requires only about a gram. It is a good method for dating specific samples, a pine needle for example, when the sample may contain younger extraneous material.
AMS
look at ppt
Radioactivity measurements
- Various calibration standards are used for radioactivity measurements.
- A common one currently in use is Oxalic Acid II, which was derived from a crop of 1977 French beet molasses.
- Facilities date this to make sure they all get the same answer.
- Sample preparation (which is a skilled and labour-intensive process ) involves extracting the carbon as CO2, purifying it, and then converting it to an organic compound such as benzene or toluene that’s easy to handle.*
- Methods differ from lab to lab.
Materials that have been radiocarbon dated since the inception of the method include:
- charcoal, wood, twigs, seeds, peat, pollen, resins
- bones, shells, corals
- hair, leather, blood residues
- lake mud, soil, water
- pottery, wall paintings, fabrics, paper, and parchment. All must have at least some carbon of organic origin.
Not everything is easy to date
- Bone is mostly hydroxy-apatite a form of calcium phosphate: Ca10 (PO4)6 (OH)2
- The bone probably dates back to the Port Moody Interstade ca. 18,000 BP , but that’s a guess.
Simplified version of carbon exchange reservoir
- showing percentage of carbon in each reservoir
- and ratio of 14C to 12C as a fraction of the ratio in the atmosphere which is taken as 1.
- e.g. in the oceans there is less14C to 12C than there is in the atmosphere (only 95% as much 14C as would be expected if the ratio was the same as in the atmosphere)
look at ppt
Carbon-13 isotope fractionation
- Many biochemical processes alter the ratios of 12C, 13C, and 14C.
- Photosynthesis, depletes the amount of 13C compared to 12C by -1.8%.
- 12C is absorbed slightly more easily than 13C, which in turn is more easily absorbed than 14C.
- The carbon in seawater is the reverse. It is enhanced by +0.7%.
- If a sample shows a lower ratio of 13C to 12C than exists in the atmosphere, it is reasonable to expect that the amount of 14C to 12C has also been reduced, making the sample appear older than it actually is.
deviations
- Standard practice to correct for deviations of 13C to 12C from the norm.
- These are reported as a “delta 13 C” correction (δ13C).
- The δ14C fractionation is taken to be 3 times greater.
The norm for δ13C is -2.5% - measurements published in articles before ca.1990 did NOT make this adjustment,
- These have to be re-evaluated before being compared with more recent measurements.
Radiocarbons years
- Radiocarbon years are reckoned as “before present”, present being defined as 1950 AD which was when the method was first developed.
- It is important to understand that for various reasons radiocarbon years are not the same as calendar years.
- If a geologist said in 2000 AD, the last ice age ended ca. 11000
- “years ago “what he or she probably meant is 11000 14C BP (11000 radiocarbon years before 1950 AD ). This happens to be 10964 BC (≈13000 calendar years before 2000 AD).
- It is not 9,000 BC.
- Among geologists this difference scarcely matters so long as they are all on the same page, but it is obviously important to historians and archaeologists who have access to other dating methods.
Assumptions-
- 14c production is constant
- The biosphere and atmosphere have roughly the same 14c concentration
- After death there is no 14c exchange and it is only affected by radioactive decay
Some deviations
- Glacial effects
- Human activity
- Variations in natural production rate
Radiocarbon years –variations in14C generation rates
- conventional radiocarbon years BP correspond only approximately to calendar years BP.
- most important is that the rate of generation of 14C in the upper atmosphere has not been and is not constant, but varies slightly from year-to-year, because of variations in cosmic ray intensities from the sun.
- Because the information needed to convert radiocarbon ages to calendar ages is constantly being improved, it was decided to make it a standard that radiocarbon ages and not calendar ages be the prime method of recording results. This has the advantage that thousands of dates published in articles previous to any update do not have to be re-calculated. It is primarily up to the user of the data to make the conversion using the best data available and in whatever way seems appropriate.
Variations in production rate major cause of suess wiggles
- Han Suess
- Changes in 14C production rate due to solar modulation of cosmic ray flux
- 14C rises by 1% every 20 years and decreases by 1% in every 40 years.
- “wiggles” in 14C production