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Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring isotope carbon-14 to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to ca 60,000 years. Within archaeology it is considered an absolute dating technique. The technique was discovered by Willard Frank Libby and his colleagues in 1949 during his tenure as a professor at the University of Chicago. Libby estimated that the steady state radioactivity concentration of exchangeable 14C would be about 14 disintegrations per minute (dpm) per gram carbon (ca. 230 mBq/g). In 1960, Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination.
Furthering the technique and applications
Hessel de Vries, at the University of Groningen furthered the detection methods and applications to a variety of sciences. He has been called "the unsung hero of radiocarbon dating" (cf Willis).
Basic chemistry
Carbon has two stable, nonradioactive isotopes: carbon-12 (12C), and carbon-13 (13C). In addition, there are tiny amounts of the unstable isotope carbon-14 (14C) on Earth. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years and would have long ago vanished from Earth were it not for the unremitting cosmic ray impacts on nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere, which forms more of the isotope. When cosmic rays enter the atmosphere, they undergo various transformations, including the production of neutrons. The resulting neutrons participate in the following reaction on one of the N atoms being knocked out of a Nitrogen (N2) molecule in the atmosphere: More on [ Radiocarbon dating ]
Radiometric Dating :: Geochronology
Methods and Techniques :: Science
@mrchrisaddison correcting an error I made yesterday - Radiocarbon dating is good to about 60,000 years. Still no good for dinosaurs though
PaoloViscardi (Paolo Viscardi) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:23:58 -0000
@mrchrisaddison correcting an error I made yesterday - Radiocarbon dating is good to about 60,000 years. Still no good for dinosaurs though
Symposium: Radiocarbon Dating and the Egyptian Chronology. 17th-18th March 2010 at the Ashmolean Museum (via EEF): http://bit.ly/72Wsiy
Bennu (Bennu) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:03:25 -0000
Symposium: Radiocarbon Dating and the Egyptian Chronology. 17th-18th March 2010 at the Ashmolean Museum (via EEF): http://bit.ly/72Wsiy
CalPal - The Cologne Radiocarbon Calibration and Paleoclimate Research Package is designed to support research on hominid behavioural response to pleistocene climate change.
Meta Description: [ Cologne Radiocarbon Calibration & Paleoclimate Research Package. ]
CalPal - Online Radiocarbon Calibration - Dates between 50.000 and 1 BP will be calibrated using the calibration curve CalPal2004_SFCP.
Meta Description: [ Cologne Radiocarbon Calibration & Paleoclimate Research Package. ]
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Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD) - Compilation of radiocarbon measurements that indicate the ages of archaeological and vertebrate palaeontological sites in North America.
Carbon Clock Could Show the Wrong Time - From PhysicsWeb, Carbon dating is a mainstay of geology and archaeology, but an enormous peak discovered in the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere between 45 thousand and 11 thousand years ago casts doubt on the biological carbon cycle that underpins the technique.
Meta Description: [ TBA ]
How Stuff Works: Carbon-14 Dating - Introductory tutorial.
Meta Description: [ Carbon-14 dating is something that you hear about in the news all the time. Find out how carbon-14 dating works and why carbon-14 dating is so accurate! ]
RadioCarbon - International journal of radio-isotope dating: Article indexes; sales of subscriptions and back issues.
Meta Description: [ Radiocarbon, an international journal of radiocarbon and other isotope dating ]
Radiocarbon Web-Info - Extensive information concerning the radiocarbon dating method from Tom Higham, Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Meta Description: [ radiocarbon dating information ]
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