RadChem 2022

Cosmic-ray burial dating of an Early to Middle Pleistocene hominin site: physical and chemical sample treatment and purity control via ad-hoc mass spectrometry scans

17 May 2022, 18:15

5m

Gallery

Poster Nuclear Analytical Methods Nuclear Analytical Methods

Speaker

Dr Roman Garba (Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS)

Description

The assay of in-situ terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) ${}^{10}$Be and ${}^{26}$Al is central to a geo-archaeological project aimed at determining the age of cultural Layer VII. representing a possible Early to Middle Pleistocene (Lower Palaeolithic) hominin occupation at Korolevo, Transcarpathia, western Ukraine. The cobbles (quartz, quartzite and sandstone) from the Layer VII. fluvial terrace on the Tisza River excavated in the 1980s and quartz pebbles of modern Tisza riverbed were selected for processing. Sample crushing, magnetic separation, quartz purification and Be and Al extraction were conducted following standard methods and Be and Al isotope ratios were measured on the DREAMS accelerator mass spectrometer (Helmholz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf). The samples exhibited various levels of weathering, lithology, and mass. To examine potential effects of heterogeneous sample composition or incomplete chemistry on the determination of ${}^{10}$Be and ${}^{26}$Al abundances, ad-hoc mass spectrometry scans were performed following the AMS measurement. Here we summarize the challenges and performance of our methods together with a description of the deficiencies and their impact on the AMS results.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MEYS) within project No. CZ.02.1.01 /0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728. Parts of this research were carried out at the Ion Beam Centre (IBC) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e. V., a member of the Helmholtz Association. AMS measurements at DREAMS were supported by the RADIATE Transnational Access Proposal 21002366.