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AMS Dating of a Late Quaternary Tephra at Graham's Terrace, New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Richard Gillespie ,
A. P. Hammond ,
K. M. Goh ,
P. J. Tonkin ,
D. C. Lowe ,
R. J. Sparks  and
Gavin Wallace
Richard Gillespie
Affiliation:
Department of Biogeography and Geomorphology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
A. P. Hammond
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
K. M. Goh
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
P. J. Tonkin
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
D. C. Lowe
Affiliation:
Nuclear Sciences Group, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
R. J. Sparks
Affiliation:
Nuclear Sciences Group, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Gavin Wallace
Affiliation:
Nuclear Sciences Group, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
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Abstract

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The radiocarbon dating of volcanic ash (tephra) deposits in New Zealand has been difficult on sites remote from the eruption, which contain either little carbon or degraded and contaminated charcoal. Although many studies of contamination removal from macroscopic charcoals from tephra sequences have been made, little attention has been paid to those containing no visible charcoal, because of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient carbon for radiometric dating. We report here experiments using accelerator mass spectrometry to establish a reliable method for dating a low-carbon aeolian and peat deposit containing a tephra horizon. Results so far demonstrate that improvements to existing chemical pretreatment methods are possible, and that dates obtained on oxidized fine-grained residues can approach the maximum age determined on good quality charred wood samples.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , 1992 , pp. 21 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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