Radioactivity: A Tool to Explore the Past
@inproceedings{Gunten1995RadioactivityAT, title={Radioactivity: A Tool to Explore the Past}, author={Hans R. von Gunten}, year={1995} }
The use of the radioactive decay for dating purposes is reviewed. The most important dating methods are discussed. They include radioactive time markers (e.g., Cs), cosmogenic radionuclides (e.g., C, "'Be), decay products of Ra (e.g., Rn, Pb), uranium-thorium-lead chronometers, rubidium-strontium and potassium-argon nuclide pairs, applications of radioactive disequilibrium, dating with fission tracks, and thermoluminescence. Some important results, for instance the age of the Earth and the Moon…
Figures and Tables from this paper
11 Citations
Radionuclides in groundwaters : contaminants and tracers
- Environmental Science
- 1998
As groundwaters serve for drinking-water purposes, radionuclides in groundwater are generally considered as contaminants. Some of the radionuclides contributing to natural radioactivity in…
Mass Spectrometry: A Boon to Nuclear Industry
- Environmental Science, Chemistry
- 2014
Mass spectrometry is a versatile technique that is used for the determination of elements at the trace and ultratrace level along with the isotope ratios. The accuracy in the quantification of…
Radioactive decay data: powerful aids in medical diagnosis and therapy, analytical science and other applications
- Physics
- 2012
Abstract Decay data are commonly used to characterise and quantify radioactive material, and provide an important means of understanding the properties and structure of the nucleus. Experimental…
An investigation about natural radioactivity, hydrochemistry, and metal pollution in groundwater from Calabrian selected areas, southern Italy
- Environmental ScienceEnvironmental Earth Sciences
- 2017
The increasing interest in radioactivity has brought about the need for an assessment of human exposure to radiation. It is, therefore, necessary to examine naturally occurring radioactivity in the…
Bayesian analysis of 210 Pb dating
- Environmental Science
- 2018
In many studies of environmental change of the past few centuries, 210Pb dating is used to obtain chronologies for sedimentary sequences. One of the most commonly used approaches to estimate the ages…
Dating recent peat deposits
- Environmental ScienceWetlands
- 2009
Dating recent peat deposits (i.e., past } 300 yrs of peat accumulation) has emerged as an important yet challenging task for estimating rates of organic matter accumulation and atmospheric pollutant…
Radionuclides as natural tracers for the characterization of fluids in regional discharge areas, Buda Thermal Karst, Hungary
- Environmental Science
- 2012
Application of Electronic Personal Dosimeter in Thermo-Luminescence and Isotopic Ratio (Radiometric) Dating of Limestone Using Uranium Series.
- Environmental Science
- 2017
- Application of electronic personal dosimeter in Thermo-Luminescence and isotopic ratio dating of limestone using uranium series has been examined in the dating of prehistoric activities in Gaborone…
U-isotopes and (226)Ra as tracers of hydrogeochemical processes in carbonated karst aquifers from arid areas.
- Environmental ScienceJournal of environmental radioactivity
- 2016
Bayesian Analysis of $$^{210}$$210Pb Dating
- Environmental ScienceJournal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics
- 2018
In studies of environmental change of the past few centuries, $$^{210}$$210Pb dating is often used to obtain chronologies for sedimentary sequences. One of the most commonly used approaches to…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 233 REFERENCES
Migration of Fission Products at the Nevada Test Site: Detection with an Isotopic Tracer
- Environmental Science
- 1991
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are studying the migration of fission products away from explosion cavities formed by underground nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. In some cases,…
THE INTERACTIONS OF LOW‐LEVEL, LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTES WITH SOILS: 1. BEHAVIOR OF RADIONUCLIDES IN SOIL‐WASTE SYSTEMS
- Environmental Science
- 1981
The characteristics of radioactive wastes and soils vary over a wide range. Liquid radioactive waste entering the environment will eventually contact the soil or geological matrix; interactions will…
Migration of Radioactive Wastes: Radionuclide Mobilization by Complexing Agents
- Environmental ScienceScience
- 1978
Ion exchange, gel filtration chromatography, and gas chromatographymass spectrometry analyses have demonstrated that ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), an extremely strong complexing agent…
Uranium-series disequilibrium : applications to earth, marine, and environmental science
- Environmental Science, Geology
- 1992
The phenomenon of radioactivity geochemistry of actinides and their daughters uranium-series desequilibrium applications applications in geochronology chemical procedures spectroscopic methods mass…
Geochemical associations of plutonium and γ-emitting radionuclides in caithness soils and marine particulates
- Environmental Science
- 1984
The reactor accident at chernobyl: A possibility to test colloid-controlled transport of radionuclides in a shallow aquifer
- Environmental Science
- 1988
Radionuclide mobility and bioavailability in Norwegian and Soviet soils.
- Environmental ScienceThe Analyst
- 1992
The location-specific differences in the distribution of 90Sr and, to a lesser extent, 137Cs arise because of fallout speciation rather than because of local environmental factors.
Diagenesis of chemical associations of 137Cs and other artificial radionuclides in river sediments
- Environmental Science
- 1984
Abstract Chemical extraction experiments involving a five‐step leaching sequence similar to that already applied to stable heavy metal isotopes1 indicate that artificial radionuclides in aquatic…
Transfer and uptake of radium in a natural and in a technologically modified radiation environment
- Environmental Science
- 1986