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Carbonate Sample Preparation for 14C Dating Using an Elemental Analyzer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Susanne Lindauer  and
Bernd Kromer
Susanne Lindauer*
Affiliation:
Klaus-Tschira-Laboratory at Curt-Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry C 4,8, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Bernd Kromer
Affiliation:
Klaus-Tschira-Laboratory at Curt-Engelhorn Centre for Archaeometry C 4,8, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
*
1Corresponding author. Email: Susanne.lindauer@cez-archaeometrie.de.
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Abstract

Radiocarbon dating of carbonates is of increasing importance for archaeology and climate research. Like most samples, these usually require pretreatment to remove surface contamination. We studied several pretreatment techniques using snails and shells of different stages of preservation and sensitivity to dissolution during the acid step of the pretreatment. We find that simple acid treatment leads to reliable results, and is applicable especially to very fragile specimens. We also compare conversion of calcite using an elemental analyzer (EA) to the conventional acid dissolution technique.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 364 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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