The Most Important Records For Dating Old Objects Were Just Found In A Japanese Lake

TBI ^ | 10-18-2012 | Dina Spector

[blam]

The Most Important Records For Dating Old Objects Were Just Found In A Japanese Lake

Dina Spector
Oct. 18, 2012, 2:01 PM

Lake Suigetsu in Japan

For tens of thousands of years, leaf and twig fossils have remained undisturbed at the bottom of Lake Suigetsu in Japan.

By drilling into well-preserved layers of sediment and extracting cores containing those leaves and twigs, researchers have obtained some of the most accurate records of radiocarbon in the atmosphere yet.

These records give a precise estimation of how much radioactive carbon there was in the atmosphere in any given year, and could help increase the accuracy of how we estimate the age of fossils.

Radiocarbon, or Carbon 14, is what archaeologists and anthropologists use to figure out how old things are.

Carbon 14 is naturally produced in the atmosphere. Because carbon is an integral part of every living thing, all organisms, like animals and plants, take in carbon while they are alive. So, when they die, they contain the same amount of Carbon 14 as their environment.

Scientists know that Carbon 14 has a half-life of 5,730 years, meaning that in 5,730 years, half of the Carbon 14 in a sample will turn into normal, non-radioactive carbon.

24,700 year-old-leaf dated by radiocarbon

So, long after an organism dies, scientists can compare the amount of Carbon 14 in a sample to records of atmospheric radiocarbon in sediments of different ages.

They can then use this information to calculate how long ago something like a tree or a human stopped taking in radioactive carbon, which indicates when they stopped living. This kind of data can be used to, for example, estimate when modern humans arrived in Europe.

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[TigersEye]

That is a lot to digest. In order to achieve the proper state of satori to fully meditate on that I am going to have to light a stick of incense made from pure Nicotiana tabacum Linné high in C10H14N2 and ingest some suitable formulation containing an adequate concentration of C2H5OH. I cannot take lightly these serious health concerns you have brought to my attention.

It might take me a while to get back to you.

[wildbill]

Most of you are too young to remember the War on Fluoride as an additive to water supplies to prevent dental cavities,

There were knock-down and drag-out arguments in City Council meetings over this issue. Proponents cited science and Nature(fluorides naturally occurring in water supplies protected teeth but left brown stains)while opponents were convinced that it was a Communist plot to poison us.

Still crops us occasionally with mostly environmentalists and natural foods enthusiasts now taking the place of ultra conservatives as opponents.

[Mygirlsmom]

What do they know? “Carbon eats our planet”. Our President says so.