Precise 210Pb determination with high-efficiency gamma spectrometry for dating of marine sedimentary cores

M C Pedrosa-García; M Fontela; B Quintana; F Pérez; G Francés; T Marcos

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108962

Precise ²¹⁰Pb determination with high-efficiency gamma spectrometry for dating of marine sedimentary cores

Appl Radiat Isot. 2020 Feb:156:108962. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108962. Epub 2019 Oct 25.

Authors

M C Pedrosa-García¹, M Fontela², B Quintana³, F Pérez², G Francés⁴, T Marcos¹

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Física Fundamental, Laboratorio de Radiaciones Ionizantes- Datación, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008, Salamanca, Spain.
² Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, IIM-CSIC, 36208, Vigo, Spain.
³ Departamento de Física Fundamental, Laboratorio de Radiaciones Ionizantes- Datación, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008, Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: quintana@usal.es.
⁴ Departamento de Geociencias Marinas y O.T, Universidad de Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain.

PMID: 31778900
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108962

Abstract

In order to establish the chronology of deep-sea sediments from high-resolution ²¹⁰Pb-dating, the determination of ²¹⁰Pb and ²²⁶Ra activity concentrations needs to be improved. Gamma spectrometry allows determining simultaneously both radionuclides. However, spectrum background is still an issue to obtain high sensitivity. Four deep-sea sediment cores were dated using Mazinger, a gamma spectrometer with high-efficiency and very low-background, and the Constant Rate and Supply model was applied to obtain recent ages.

Keywords: (210)Pb-dating; Gamma spectrometry; HPGe detector.