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Simon Fraser University Radiocarbon Dates I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

D E Nelson
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
K A Hobson
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada
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The SFU Archaeology Department has constructed a small radiocarbon dating facility to serve its own needs and, to the extent that time is available, the needs of other archaeologists and earth scientists. All dates reported here were processed by our laboratory from October 1979 to September 1980. The 14C measurements are made using conventional techniques for liquid scintillation counting of benzene. The samples are burned in a Phonon Mark IV combustion bomb and the resultant CO2 is purified and converted to Li2C2 using a reaction vessel based on the design of Polach, Gower, and Fraser (ms). Acetylene is formed by hydrolysis with distilled H2O which has been aged for a minimum of three months. The acetylene is trimerized to benzene with the Mobil Durabead I catalyst. The conversion efficiency of CO2 to C6H6 is typically 95%. Gas chromatographic analysis of typical samples of the synthesized benzene indicates 99.8% purity with toluene produced in trace amounts.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

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