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Science 29 August 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5330, pp. 1279 - 1280
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5330.1279
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Reports

40Ar/39Ar Dating into the Historical Realm: Calibration Against Pliny the Younger

P. R. Renne, * W. D. Sharp, A. L. Deino, G. Orsi, L. Civetta

Laser incremental heating of sanidine from the pumice deposited by the Plinian eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. yielded a 40Ar/39Ar isochron age of 1925 ± 94 years ago. Close agreement with the Gregorian calendar-based age of 1918 years ago demonstrates that the 40Ar/39Ar method can be reliably extended into the temporal range of recorded history. Excess 40Ar is present in the sanidine in concentrations that would cause significant errors if ignored in dating Holocene samples.

P. R. Renne, Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA, and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
W. D. Sharp and A. L. Deino, Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
G. Orsi, Dipartamento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Università di Napoli, Largo Santo Marcellino 10, Napoli, Italy.
L. Civetta, Dipartamento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia Università di Napoli, Largo Santo Marcellino 10, Napoli, Italy, and Vesuvian Volcanological Observatory, 249 Via Manzoni, Napoli, Italy.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed at Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.

Volume 277, Number 5330, Issue of 29 August 1997, pp. 1279-1280
©1997 by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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