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Science 12 August 1994:
Vol. 265. no. 5174, pp. 937 - 940
DOI: 10.1126/science.265.5174.937
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Articles

Surface Dating of Dynamic Landforms: Young Boulders on Aging Moraines

Bernard Hallet 1 and Jaakko Putkonen 1

1 Quaternary Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

The dating of landforms is crucial to understanding the evolution, history, and stability of landscapes. Cosmogenic isotope analysis has recently been used to determine quantitative exposure ages for previously undatable landform surfaces. A pioneering application of this technique to date moraines illustrated its considerable potential but suggested a chronology partially inconsistent with existing geological data. Consideration of the dynamic nature of landforms and of the ever-present processes of erosion, deposition, and weathering leads to a resolution of this inconsistency and, more generally, offers guidance for realistic interpretation of exposure ages.


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