Published October 1991 | Version v1
Journal article

The dating game

Creators

Description

Conventional radiocarbon dating suffers from a number of limitations. The additional use of accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) has revolutionized the technique and offers greater accuracy from smaller samples in a shorter time. Rather than relying on the cumbersome measurement of beta activity, AMS measures the ratio of 14C to 12C/13C directly as an atom count, by accelerating the carbon ions through an electromagnetic field to amplify mass differences. Samples dated using AMS must be pre-treated to remove any contaminants using techniques described in this article. (UK)

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Laboratory Practice
Journal Volume
40
Journal Issue
10
Series
Lab. Pract.
Journal Page Range
24-26
ISSN
0023-6853
CODEN
LABPA