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The Unreliability of 14 C Dates Obtained from Buried Sandy Podzols

1983; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0033822200005695

1945-5755

Mebus A. Geyh, Günter Roeschmann, T.A. Wijmstra, Aart Middeldorp,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

A test for the reliability of 14 C dating of soil was made at two sites with buried, autochthonous, and in parts, allochthonous sandy podzols, dated either litho- and pedostratigraphically or palynologically. The differences between the age ranges obtained and the apparent mean residence times (AMRT) calculated from the 14 C content of alkaline extracts from fossil soil layers and horizons lean in organic matter exceed 10,000 years, corresponding to a maximum contamination with recent carbon of up to 50 %. The use of correction factors for the apparent mean residence times of podzols is not valid, not even for climate zones, because these values have a broad scatter for the same profile.