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U/Th dating of impure carbonates: 230Th/232Th activity ratios in detrital material

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Abstract

In environmental age dating the 230Th/232Th activity ratio is widely used as an indicator of detrital contamination. A clear relationship between this activity ratio and the carbonate sample’s age has previously been demonstrated, whereby a detrital correction must be applied when the 230Th/232Th activity ratio of the leach drops to 20. We demonstrate that in some cases carbonate samples with 230Th/232Th well above 20 must be corrected, otherwise an overestimation of the sample’s age is obtained. Evaluation of the relationship between 230Th/234U and 230Th/232Th in the carbonate’s aliquots will enable evaluation of the limit at which a carbonate can be considered pure or impure.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the PaleoMed Project of Interreg IIIB of the EU MEDOC Programme: 2002-02-4.1-U-048, by the Government of Gibraltar and by Huelva University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics I, ETSIA, University of Seville, Ctra. Utrera km.1, 41013, Seville, Spain

    A. Martínez-Aguirre

  2. Department of Physics, Edificio C-2, University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Ctra Madrid-Cádiz, km 396-A, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    J. M. Alcaraz-Pelegrina

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Huelva, Avd. Tres de Marzo s/n, 21071, Huelva, Spain

    J. Rodríguez-Vidal

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  1. A. Martínez-Aguirre
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  2. J. M. Alcaraz-Pelegrina
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  3. J. Rodríguez-Vidal
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Correspondence to A. Martínez-Aguirre, J. M. Alcaraz-Pelegrina or J. Rodríguez-Vidal.

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Martínez-Aguirre, A., Alcaraz-Pelegrina, J.M. & Rodríguez-Vidal, J. U/Th dating of impure carbonates: 230Th/232Th activity ratios in detrital material. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 321, 71–81 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06560-3

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