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241Am dating of lake sediments

  • Conference paper
Environmental History and Palaeolimnology

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 67))

Abstract

241Am derived from decay of fallout 241Pu is now frequently detected in analyses of lake sediments by low-background gamma assay, and offers an alternative to weapons test 137Cs in dating recent sediments at those sites where the 137Cs record has been degraded by post-depositional mobility or obliterated by Chernobyl fallout. Calculations of the in-growth of 241Am from 241Pu indicate a nominal distribution broadly similar to that of 137Cs, with the maximum 241Am activity occuring in fallout dating from 1963. Results from a number of sites suggest that 241Am is significantly less mobile in lake sediments than 137Cs, and that its distribution in cores reflects more closely the fallout record. Since further decay of existing weapons debris will increase 241Am concentrations by about 24% over the next 40 years, 241Am is likely to play an increasingly important role in assessing the validity of 210Pb dates at sites with varying sediment accumulation rates.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Applied Maths & Theoretical Physics, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    P. G. Appleby

  2. Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    N. Richardson

  3. Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    P. J. Nolan

Authors
  1. P. G. Appleby
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  2. N. Richardson
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  3. P. J. Nolan
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Editor information

J. P. Smith P. G. Appleby R. W. Battarbee J. A. Dearing R. Flower E. Y. Haworth F. Oldfield P. E. O’Sullivan

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Appleby, P.G., Richardson, N., Nolan, P.J. (1991). 241Am dating of lake sediments. In: Smith, J.P., et al. Environmental History and Palaeolimnology. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 67. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3592-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3592-4_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5593-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3592-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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