Calcium-41 Concentration in Terrestrial Materials: Prospects for Dating of Pleistocene Samples
W. HENNING 1,
W. A. BELL 2,
P. J. BILLQUIST 1,
B. G. GLAGOLA 1,
W. KUTSCHERA 1,
Z. LIU 1,
H. F. LUCAS 1,
M. PAUL 3,
K. E. REHM 1, and
J. L. YNTEMA 1
1 Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439.
2 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.
3 Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Calcium-41 has been suggested as a new tool for radiometric dating in the range of 105 to 106 years. The concentration of cosmogenic calcium-41 in natural samples of terrestrial origin has now been determined by high-sensitivity accelerator mass spectrometry after pre-enrichment in calcium-41 with an isotope separator. Ratios of calcium-41 to total calcium between 2 x 10-14 and 3 x 10-15 were measured for samples of contemporary bovine bone and from limestone deposits. Some prospects for the use of calcium-41 for dating Middle and Late Pleistocene bone and for other geophysical applications are discussed.
Submitted on December 15, 1986
Accepted on March 12, 1987
