Gäggeler, Heinz; Szidat, Sönke (2016). Nuclear dating. In: Rösch, Frank (ed.) Nuclear- and Radiochemistry: Modern Applications 2. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
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Gäggeler and Szidat 2016_Nuclear dating.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (6MB) | Preview |
Aim: To understand the past is instrumental for predicting the future. Therefore, dating of objects – be they from human activities or from nature – is of prime interest in science. Radionuclides are themost useful tool to tackle this problem. Their half-lives may be used as a clock to measure elapsed time. However, a number of conditions have to be met for proper application of such datingmethods. Our environment is rich in radionuclides, mostly of natural origin but partly also from anthropogenic sources such as nuclear weapons testing or from nuclear accidents. This chapter summarizes applications of such radionuclides for dating purpose.
Special emphasis is given to radiocarbon, 14C. Formany applications this radioisotope of carbon is the most important dating radionuclide that enables to cover time horizons from the present until about 60 000 years ago. The use of parent/daughter systems is described as well.
Two other short sections address dating via stored signals in the samples from radioactive transformation. These are fission track and thermoluminescence dating.
Item Type: |
Book Section (Book Chapter) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Gäggeler, Heinz, Szidat, Sönke |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 500 Science > 540 Chemistry |
ISBN: |
978-3-11-022185-5 |
Publisher: |
Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Sönke Szidat |
Date Deposited: |
21 Nov 2016 09:10 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:59 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.89517 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/89517 |
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