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RHX Dating: measurement of the Activation Energy of Rehydroxylation for Fired‐Clay Ceramics
Author(s) -
Clelland S.J.,
Wilson M. A.,
Carter M. A.,
Batt C. M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/arcm.12118
Subject(s) - activation energy , materials science , reaction rate constant , energy (signal processing) , ceramic , mineralogy , constant (computer programming) , analytical chemistry (journal) , thermodynamics , chemistry , composite material , computer science , kinetics , mathematics , statistics , chromatography , physics , quantum mechanics , programming language
In rehydroxylation ( RHX ) dating, the activation energy of the rehydroxylation reaction is required first in the estimate of a material's effective lifetime temperature ( ELT ), and second to correct the RHX rate constant obtained at a given measurement temperature to that at the ELT . Measurement of the activation energy is thus integral to the RHX methodology. In this paper, we report a temperature‐step method for the measurement of activation energy and develop fully the underlying theoretical basis. In contrast to obtaining the activation energy from a series of separate experiments (each of which requires the sample to be dehydroxylated prior to measuring the RHX rate constant), the temperature‐step method not only requires a single dehydroxylation at 500° C but also eliminates repeated acquisition of Stage I data, which are not required for dating purposes. Since the first temperature step is set to correspond to the temperature at which a dating determination is carried out, the measurement of rate constants at higher temperatures simply becomes an extension of dating. Consequently, the logistics of obtaining the activation energy of rehydroxylation are greatly simplified.