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Applicability of the 210Pb dating method to quartz-sandstone stalactites

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Abstract

This paper describes the first application of the 210Pb dating method to quartz-sandstone stalactites, which until now had only been used to determine the growth rates of recent carbonate speleothems. Five stalactites were sampled from two quartz-sandstone caves located in Serra de Itaqueri, southeastern Brazil, and they all exhibited a quantifiable measure of the 210Pb activity concentration in their sectional layers. Two samples showed a desirable exponential decrease of the excess 210Pb activity along with the vertical distance, yielding growth rates of 0.39±0.08 mm/yr and 0.18±0.01 mm/yr, respectively, for stalactites 25-mm long (Paredão Cave) and 17-mm long (Fazendão cave).

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Fig. 1

Adapted from Vieira et al. [49] and Montano et al. [50]

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Acknowledgements

APF thanks CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) in Brazil for the Geology´s Bachelor scientific research scholarship. Two anonymous reviewers are greatly thanked for constructive comments that improved the readability of this manuscript.

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  1. Departamento de Geologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Câmpus de Rio Claro, Av. 24-A No.1515, C.P. 178, Rio Claro, São Paulo, CEP 13506-900, Brazil

    André P. Figols & Daniel M. Bonotto

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Correspondence to Daniel M. Bonotto.

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Figols, A.P., Bonotto, D.M. Applicability of the 210Pb dating method to quartz-sandstone stalactites. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 89–98 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-08086-z

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