Cosmogenic dating archaeology
28-Nov-2019 12:56
In addition to spatial variations of the carbon-14 level, the question of temporal variation has received much study.
A 2 to 3 percent depression of the atmospheric radioactive-carbon level since 1900 was noted soon after Libby’s pioneering work, almost certainly the result of the dumping of huge volumes of carbon-14-free carbon dioxide into the air through smokestacks.
In short, all parts of the carbon cycle were seen to be invaded by the isotope carbon-14.
Invasion is probably not the proper word for a component that Libby calculated should be present only to the extent of about one atom in a trillion stable carbon atoms.
It relies instead on the progressive decay or disappearance of the radioactive parent with time.
His success initiated a series of measurements designed to answer two questions: Is the concentration of carbon-14 uniform throughout the plant and animal kingdoms?
With correction for radioactive decay during the intervening years, such old samples hopefully would show the same starting carbon-14 level as exists today. His conclusion was that over the past 5,000 years the carbon-14 level in living materials has remained constant within the 5 percent precision of measurement.
A dating method was thus available, subject only to confirmation by actual application to specific chronologic problems.
And, if so, has today’s uniform level prevailed throughout the recent past?
After showing the essential uniformity of carbon-14 in living material, Libby sought to answer the second question by measuring the radiocarbon level in organic samples dated historically—materials as old as 5,000 years from sources such as Egyptian tombs.
It is now clear that carbon-14 is not homogeneously distributed among today’s plants and animals.