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AMS Dating of Alluvial Sediments on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Richard Gillespie ,
I. P. Prosser ,
Edward Dlugokencky ,
R. J. Sparks ,
Gavin Wallace  and
J. M. A. Chappell
Richard Gillespie
Affiliation:
Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
I. P. Prosser
Affiliation:
School of Geography, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia
Edward Dlugokencky
Affiliation:
Institute of Nuclear Sciences, DSIR, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
R. J. Sparks
Affiliation:
Institute of Nuclear Sciences, DSIR, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Gavin Wallace
Affiliation:
Institute of Nuclear Sciences, DSIR, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
J. M. A. Chappell
Affiliation:
Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
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Abstract

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The dating of alluvial deposits is frequently hampered by a lack of good-quality charcoal or other material for radiocarbon samples. We have dated two sites in southeastern Australia using traditional radiometric methods with minimal pretreatment. Results yielded an inconsistent chronology, affected by contamination with younger humic materials. A more consistent and older chronology was achieved using AMS dating of rigorously pretreated samples of fine-grained charcoal. The results have important implications for the radiocarbon dating of many Late Quaternary stratigraphic sequences with low charcoal abundance.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , 1992 , pp. 29 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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