Radiocarbon After Four Decades RADIOCARBON R.E. Taylor A. Long R.S. Kra Editors Radiocarbon After Four Decades An Interdisciplinary Perspective With 148 Illustrations Springer Science+Business Media, LLC R.E. Thylor Austin Long Department of Anthropology Department of Geosciences Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics The University of Arizona University of California, Riverside Thscon, AZ 85721 USA Riverside, CA 92521-0418 USA Renee S. Kra Department of Geosciences The University of Arizona Thscon, AZ 85721 USA Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Radiocarbon after four decades: an interdisciplinary perspective / [editors], R.E. Taylor, Austin Long, Renee S. Kra. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4757-4251-0 ISBN 978-1-4757-4249-7 (eBook) DOI 1O.l007/978-1-4757-4249-7 1. Radiocarbon dating. I. Taylor, R. E. (Royal Ervin), 1938- II. Long, Austin. III. Kra, Renee S. QC798.D3R3 1992 546'.6815884-dc20 91-44448 Printed on acid-free paper. © 1992 Springer Science+BusinessMedia New York Originally published by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. in 1992 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1992 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written per­ mission of the publisher,Springer Science+Bnsiness Media, LLC, except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereaf­ ter developed is forbidden. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone. Production managed by Ellen Seham; manufacturing supervised by Robert Paella. Camera-ready copy provided by the editors. 987654321 ISBN 978-1-4757-4251-0 FOREWORD Four decades have passed since the beginning of the use of radiocarbon as a dating, biological and environmental tracer isotope. More than thirty years ago, in December 1960, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was bestowed on Willard Frank Libby (1909-1980) for the development of the radiocarbon C4C) method. One of the scientists who proposed Libby for the Nobel laureate characterized the significance of the 14C method in these words: "Seldom has a single discovery in chemistry had such an impact on the thinking of so many fields of human endeavor. Seldom has a single discovery generated such wide public interest" (Nobel Foundation 1964). On 4-8 June 1990, a conference at the University of California Lake Arrowhead Conference Center marked the major contributions that 14C has made to research in archaeology, biochemistry, environmental studies, geochemistry, geology, geophysics, hydrology and oceanography over the last forty years. Originally, plans for this conference had been discussed 15 years ago, following Libby's retirement in 1976 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The proposed seminar was envisioned as a vehicle around which a Festschrift volume would have been developed. Libby's death in 1980, at the age of 71, terminated these plans. The concept of the Lake Arrowhead Conference arose from discussions among R E Taylor (University of California, Riverside), James Arnold (U ni versi ty of California, San Diego) and Ernest Anderson (retired from the University of California/Los Alamos National Laboratory). During 1948 to 1949 at the University of Chicago, James R Arnold - as a postdoctoral fellow - and Ernest C Anderson - as Libby's first graduate student at Chicago - carried out the critical experiments that established the essential validity of the 14C method. The involvement of R E Taylor resulted from the opportunity Willard Libby gave to a graduate student in archaeology/anthro­ pology at UCLA to serve as a research assistant in Libby's Isotope Laboratory during the 1970s. In 1987, an International Advisory Committee was formed to provide counsel and direction in the organization of the conference. The members of this v vi Foreword committee were Ernest C Anderson, James R Arnold, Paul E Damon, Gordon J Fergusson, Frederick Johnson, Kunihiko Kigoshi, Willem G Mook, Hans Oeschger, Ingrid U Olsson, Henry A Polach, Meyer Rubin, Hans E Suess, Minze Stuiver, Henrik Tauber and John C Vogel. A Local Organizing Commit­ tee, consisting of Rainer Berger (UCLA), Jonathon E Ericson (University of California, Irvine) and R E Taylor, as Chair, was responsible for conference arrangements. The moderators for the six conference sessions were Paul E Damon (The University of Arizona) and Minze Stuiver (University of Washington) for the Natural Carbon Cycle; Henry A Polach (Australian National University) for Instrumentation and Sample Preparation; Willem G Mook (University of Groningen) for Hydrology; Fred Wendorf (Southern Methodist University) for Old World Archaeology and Paleoanthropology; Rainer Berger and R E Taylor for New World Archaeology; Meyer Rubin (United States Geological Survey) for Earth Sciences; and Lloyd A Currie (National Institute of Standards and Technology) for Environmental Sciences. Historical and New Approaches Theme Lectures, held in the evenings, inspired the participants with anecdotal reminiscences and great expectations for future trends. The moderators all did excellent jobs of organizing their sessions, inviting scientists who are experts in their respective fields. "New faces" blended with the "old guard" of the international radiocarbon community, as feelings of pride, admiration and accomplishment permeated the beautiful summer setting of Lake Arrowhead. This volume, a culmination of the discussions and presentations at Lake Arrowhead, is a unique tribute to the achievements of radiocarbon dating over the last forty years. Few 20th century scientific discoveries have had such a profound interdisciplinary impact. The chapters represent overviews of the history, development and future trends in the field, documenting the far-reaching influence that radiocarbon has had on a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines - including archaeology, astrophysics, biology, chemistry, dendrochronology, environmental sciences, geosciences, hydrology, oceanography, palynology and physics. For the first time, specialists have gathered to assess comprehensively the broad nature and consequences of the introduction of radiocarbon into the carbon cycle. R E Taylor, Austin Long and Renee S Kra REFERENCE Nobel Foundation 1964 Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1942-1962. Amsterdam, Elsevier: 587-588. Acknowledgments The conference organizers are indebted, for generous financial support of the conference, to the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS), University of California/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (UC/LLNL), as well as to the Willard F Libby Foundation, the Systemwide University of California Administration, Systemwide Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (lGPP), UCLA Branch of the IGPP, University of California, Riverside (UCR) campus administration, University of California, Irvine (UCI) campus administration, UCLA campus administration, the UCLA Department of Chemistry and the Society for Archaeological Sciences. We particularly wish to thank Jay C Davis (CAMS) and Orson L Anderson (Systemwide IGPP) for their support and encouragement, and acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Minze Stuiver and other members of the International Advisory Committee for the design of the conference logo. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Donna Kirner for her efficient management of the Lake Arrowhead Conference, as well as the very helpful assistance of Jeffrey Lehman, Louis Pay en, Joye Sage and Anna Weaver. The editors most gratefully acknowledge Harry E Gove and Donald 0 Henry, who did not attend the conference, but nonetheless, contributed significant chap­ ters to this volume. Assistant Editor of RADIOCARBON, Frances D Moskovitz, played a key role in the physical production of this book, and we sincerely thank her for it. For their invaluable help in shaping the final content of this volume, we wholeheartedly acknowledge the work of the reviewers of the original manuscripts: Brian Atwater Mebus A Geyh Jim Phillips Bryant Bannister Herbert Haas L Neil Plummer Mike F Barbetti P Edgar Hare Henry A Polach Edouard Bard Calvin J Heusser George C Reid Edward Boyle Frank Hole Don S Rice Wallace S Broecker Gordon Jacobi Fred N Robertson Michael D Coe Jack R Jokipii Meyer Rubin Tyler B Coplen A J T Jull Garth Sampson Lloyd A Currie Mark J Kenoyer Jim G Shaffer Paul E Damon George A Klouda Michael B Schiffer George A Dawson J L Lanzerotti Kerry Sieh Owen K Davis John H Law Charles P Sonett James M Devine David C Lowe Thomas W Stafford, Jr Robert Earl Dickinson Richard H Meadow Jerry J Stipp Douglas J Donahue Clement W Meighan Michael Thurman David Elmore Willem G Mook Pierre M Vermeersch George W Farwell Andrew Moore John S Vogel Gordon J Fergusson John E Noakes Martin Wahlen Joan Feynman Tsung-Hung Peng Al Yang George Frison Fred M Phillips ungli~ Svenska Vetellskaps­ ak3demien har vid sin Sa1l11nan­ komst den J novenlber 1960 i enlig-­ hermed.foreskrffterna i det" all ALFRED NOBEL den 27 nOl'enlber1895 upprattatU te5i~mentet beslutat art ol-'erlamna. tkt pris som dena ar borrgil'(s.f6r den l'ikti{!"asre kemiska upptJck~ eller.f6rltittrin~ nIt WILLARD F. LIBBY