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COMPOSITIONAL INHOMOGENEITY OF SEDIMENTS AND ITS POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON DOSE RATE ESTIMATION FOR ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE DATING OF TOOTH ENAMEL
Author(s) -
MELLARS P. A.,
ZHOU L. P.,
MARSEGLIA E. A.
Publication year - 1997
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/j.1475-4754.1997.tb00796.x
Subject(s) - thorium , uranium , tooth enamel , sediment , mineralogy , isotopes of thorium , enamel paint , particle size , electron , electron paramagnetic resonance , geology , chemistry , materials science , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , paleontology , nuclear physics , metallurgy , composite material
We present results of particle size and radioactivity analyses of sediment samples collected from five sites with different burial environments. The uranium, thorium and potassium concentrations in the five sample sets are shown to vary with particle size. The potential effects of the observed size‐dependent variations on electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of tooth enamel are assessed using two hypothetical models. Our results show that any bias to relatively fine fractions could result in a significant overestimation of the total environmental dose rate, leading to an underestimation of the calculated ESR age.