Radioisotope dating with accelerators
DOI: 10.1063/1.2995406
A new method of detecting radioactive isotopes promises to have a revolutionary impact on the field of radioisotope dating. The technique, which was developed over the past two and a half years, consists of counting individual atoms of radioactive isotopes that have been ionized, accelerated to high energies, and then selected and identified. By detecting all—or a substantial fraction—of the atoms in the beam, this method has much greater sensitivity than the standard method, which detects only the tiny fraction of the atoms that decay during the counting period. The new “direct detection” method therefore will allow one to use much smaller samples and to measure much greater ages than the older “decay detection” method.
This article is only available in PDF format
References
1. W. F. Libby, Phys. Rev. 69, 671 (1946); https://doi.org/PHRVAO
E. C. Anderson, W. F. Libby, S. Weinhouse, A. F. Reid, A. D. Kurshenbaum, A. V. Groose, Phys. Rev. 72, 931 (1947); https://doi.org/PHRVAO
See also W. F. Libby, Radiocarbon Dating, U. of Chicago Press, Chicago (1955).2. For a recent review see P. E. Damon, J. C. Lerman, A. Long, Ann. Rev. Earth and Planet. Sci. 6, 457 (1978).https://doi.org/AREPCI
3. Reviews of cosmogenic nuclides can be found in Handbuch der Physik 46/2, Springer, Berlin (1967);
D. Lal, B. Peters, page 551;
M. Honda, J. R. Arnold, page 613.4. M. Anbar, Proceedings of the 22nd Conference on Mass Spectrometry, (Philadelphia Pa., 1974).
5. L. W. Alvarez, R. Cornog, Phys. Rev. 56, 379 (1939).https://doi.org/PHRVAO
6. K. H. Purser, US Patent 4037100, filed March 1976, issued July 1977.
7. R. A. Muller, L. W. Alvarez, W. R. Holley, E. J. Stephenson, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Report LBL‐5399, 1976;
Science 196, 521 (1977).https://doi.org/SCIEAS8. R. A. Muller, LBL‐5510 (1976);
Science 196, 489 (1977). https://doi.org/SCIEAS
Most of the ideas appeared in an internal memo, Physics Note 319 (July 1976).9. D. E. Nelson, R. G. Korteling, W. R. Stott, Science 198, 507 (1977).https://doi.org/SCIEAS
10. E. J. Stephenson, L. W. Alvarez, D. J. Clark, R. A. Gough, W. R. Holley, A. Jain, R. A. Muller, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 22, 579 (1977).https://doi.org/BAPSA6
11. K. H. Purser, R. B. Liebert, A. E. Litherland, R. P. Beukens, H. E. Gove, C. L. Bennett, M. R. Clover, W. E. Sondheim, 2nd Int. Conf. Electrostatic Accel. Tech., Strasbourg, France, 1487 (1977);
C. L. Bennett, R. P. Beukens, M. R. Clover, H. E. Gove, R. B. Liebert, A. E. Litherland, K. H. Purser, W. E. Sondheim, Science 198, 508 (1977).https://doi.org/SCIEAS12. C. L. Bennett, R. P. Beukens, M. R. Clover, D. Elmore, H. E. Gove, L. Kilius, A. E. Litherland, K. H. Purser, Science 201, 346 (1978); https://doi.org/SCIEAS
see also ref. 13, page 70.13. Proceedings of the First Conference on Radiocarbon Dating with Accelerators, (H. E. Gove, ed.), University of Rochester, 20, 21 April 1978.
14. R. A. Muller, E. J. Stephenson, T. S. Mast, Science 201, 347 (1978); https://doi.org/SCIEAS
see also ref. 13, pages 33–37, 239–244. 197–195, and LBL‐7585.15. D. E. Nelson, R. G. Korteling, D. G. Burke, J. W. McKay, W. R. Stott, ref. 13, page 47.
16. G. M. Raisbeck, F. Yiou, M. Fruneau, M. Lieuvin, J. M. Loiseaux, ref. 13, page 38.
17. E. T. Hall, R. E. M. Hedges, N. R. White, H. R. McK. Hyder, D. Sinclair, ref. 13, page 257.
18. H. R. Andrews, G. C. Ball, R. M. Brown, N. Burn, W. G. Davies, Y. Imahori, J. C. D. Milton, ref 13, page 114.
19. D. Elmore, B. R. Fulton, M. R. Clover, J. R. Marsden, H. E. Gove, H. Naylor, K. H. Purser, L. R. Kilius, R. P. Beukens, A. E. Litherland, to be published in Nature.
20. G. M. Raisbeck, R. Yiou, M. Fruneau, J. M. Loiseau, Science 202, 215 (1978); https://doi.org/SCIEAS
G. M. Raisbeck, F. Yiou, M. Fruneau, M. Lieuvin, J. M. Loiseau, Laboratoire Rene Bernas preprint LRB‐78‐10 (Orsay, to be published) 1978.21. E. J. Stephenson, T. S. Mast, R. A. Muller, LBL‐7579 (June 1978), to be published in Nucl. Inst. Methods.
22. R. A. Muller, ref. 13, page 34.
23. The contributers to the applications discussion in ref. 13 include C. V. Haynes, L. A. Currie, J. R. Arnold, W. S. Broecker and T. Peng.
24. J. C. Higdon, R. E. Lingenfelter, Nature 246, 403 (1973).https://doi.org/NATUAS
25. Workshop on Dating Old Ground Water (S. N. Davis, ed.) U. of Arizona, Tucson (1978).
26. G. Cowan, D. Ott, A. Turkevich, L. Machta, G. Ferber, N. Daly, Science 191, 1048 (1974).https://doi.org/SCIEAS
More about the Authors
Richard A. Muller. University of California, Berkeley.
