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210Pb Dating

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Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Mass accumulation rates; Recent sediment dating; Sedimentation rates

Definition

Method of dating recent sediment deposition and accumulation using down-core profiles of short-lived radioactive 210Pb.

History

Roughly 50 years ago, a small group of scientists from Belgium and the USA, trying to better constrain ice sheet accumulation rates, attempted to apply what was then known about environmental lead as a potential geochronometer. Thus Goldberg (1963) developed the first principles of the 210Pb dating method, which was soon followed by a paper by Crozaz et al. (1964), who examined accumulation history of Antarctic snow using 210Pb. Shortly thereafter, Koide et al. (1972, 1973) adapted this technique to unravel sediment deposition and accumulation records in deep-sea environments. Serendipitously, they chose to work in a deep basin off California, where an independent and robust age model had already been developed. Krishanswami et al. (1971) extended the use of this...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, 400 Natural Bridges Dr., Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, USA

    Peter W. Swarzenski

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  1. Peter W. Swarzenski
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Correspondence to Peter W. Swarzenski .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    W. Jack Rink  & Jeroen W. Thompson  & 

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Swarzenski, P.W. (2015). 210Pb Dating. In: Jack Rink, W., Thompson, J.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6304-3_236

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