Further Investigations on 14C Dating of Calcareous Tufa

Abstract

Systematic studies on 14C dating of tufa profiles in southern Poland have resulted in developing a simple phenomenological model which enables us to estimate the reservoir correction factor of 14C dates of individual carbonate samples. We made further studies to test model assumptions and to verify relationships between the value of reservoir correction factor TR and 13C content of tufa carbonate. Two new study sites, Rudawa and Szklarka, are close to previously studied sites. Four tufa samples with associated organic fraction from ca 2000m asl in South America (Peruvian Andes) were measured to test the possible application of the developed model to tufas in different geochemical and climatic environments. Finally, a series of calcareous tufa samples from the Villers-devant-Orval profile (Belgium) were dated, although no direct comparison with organic matter dates is available for this profile.