230Th/U-dating of carbonate deposits from ancient aqueducts

Wenz, Sarah; Suermelihindi, Guel; Passchier, Cornelis W.; Jochum, Klaus Peter; Andreae, Meinrat O.

doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2015.12.001

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Growth rates are typically ~1 mm per year for such deposits (Wenz et al . ). The growth rates of PTC1 and MDA are thus on the low side of the reported growth rate for aqueduct deposits, but still within the range of the given values, making the 12‐year period plausible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Roman Builders Facing the Risk of Disaster: Coupling Archaeological and Geochemical Analyses on a Section of the ‘Aqua Augusta’ (the Roman Serino Aqueduct, Southern Italy)

et al. 2018

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Four samples of carbonate sinters from two sites of the Roman Serino aqueduct were studied in order to better constrain the history of the aqueduct and to estimate to what extent natural hazards can be recorded in such deposits. Micromorphological observations, trace element, stable oxygen and carbon isotope analyses were performed on the samples. Together with new quantitative observations on the construction techniques of the aqueduct, our results highlight the imprint left by geological hazards on the Serino aqueduct. Damage, disruption, ground movement and a debris-flow are evidenced.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Roman Builders Facing the Risk of Disaster: Coupling Archaeological and Geochemical Analyses on a Section of the ‘Aqua Augusta’ (the Roman Serino Aqueduct, Southern Italy)

et al. 2018

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“…The U/Th dating method (Frank et al, 2002; Pentecost, 2005, p. 249) is the most directly applicable to carbonate and has been successfully applied in some water systems (Claude et al, forthcoming; Frumkin et al, 2003; Passchier, Sürmelihindi, Spötl, Mertz‐Kraus, et al, 2016; Pons‐Branchu et al, 2018). Aqueducts, however, commonly contain clay and other detrital particles in sub‐microscopic particles, which contain 230 Th (initial Th) which significantly increases the error of the method (Wenz et al, 2016). Dating is therefore presently best attempted in white, sparitic translucent aqueduct carbonate with low clay content and high 234 U levels.…”

Section: Dating Of Carbonate Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Writ in water—Unwritten histories obtained from carbonate deposits in ancient water systems

Sürmelihindi,

Passchier

2023

Geoarchaeology

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Calcium carbonate deposits from ancient water systems such as aqueducts are a hidden archive for archaeology and environmental sciences. These deposits formed wherever carbonate‐rich water was in contact with a water‐containing structure and recorded water composition, temperature, biological content, the operation or nonoperation of a water system segment, flow discharge and velocity, the shape of disappeared segments of water structures, the number of years a water supply system was active, disruptions of the water supply and water management such as repairs, adaptations and cleaning. Indirectly, urban development, resilience, population‐ and socioeconomic dynamics can be studied through the stratigraphy of carbonate in water systems. Carbonate archives can also give insight into long‐term changes in paleoclimate and on environmental pollution, deforestation, extreme floods, droughts, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Archaeological and environmental investigations of carbonate deposits can provide data with up to daily resolution over decades to centuries. Although absolute dating of carbonate from water systems is still problematic, each study on the aqueduct of an ancient city, together with its carbonate deposits, provides its own microstory in Roman life.

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“…Thorium correction is often crucial for studying carbonates where the correction is significant, but the initial 230 Th value is unknown, potentially variable, or when studying "dirty" carbonates such as tufa and travertine (Mallick and Frank, 2002;Hellstrom, 2006;Wenz et al, 2016). Several studies have shown that this correction particularly important for speleothem records from the Caribbean and Central American region, where values where found including 2 ± 1 (Schorndorf et al, 2023) or 14 ± 4 (Moseley et al, 2015).…”

Section: Detrital Thorium Correctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical note: „U-Th Analysis” – an open-source software dedicated to MCICPMS U-series-data treatment and evaluation

Kerber,

Kontor,

Warken

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. We present our standalone data analysis application for 230Th/U dating on multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (MC-ICP-MS). The Python-based algorithm is equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI) and comprises raw data treatment, corrections, age calculation, and error estimation. Our underlying measurement protocol employs a combination of Faraday cups (FC) and secondary electron multipliers (SEM), and the software allows for different detector layouts for the measurement of the least abundant isotopes 234U, 230Th and 229Th. We especially focus on features that ensure reproducibility and enable user-friendly reanalysis of measurements such as customized calculation constants with templates. Result files are saved automatically and contain all relevant settings used. Eventually, we demonstrate the relevance of adequate data outlier treatment and generally recommend using the median instead of the mean of calculated ratios. The performance of our evaluation software is demonstrated by a case study from a Puerto Rican stalagmite with growth phases from modern to 40 ka old. The majority of the obtained ages reaches uncertainties in the range of 0.3–0.6 %, underlining the capability of our measurement protocol.

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230Th/U-dating of carbonate deposits from ancient aqueducts

Cited by 11 publications

References 37 publications

Roman Builders Facing the Risk of Disaster: Coupling Archaeological and Geochemical Analyses on a Section of the ‘Aqua Augusta’ (the Roman Serino Aqueduct, Southern Italy)

Roman Builders Facing the Risk of Disaster: Coupling Archaeological and Geochemical Analyses on a Section of the ‘Aqua Augusta’ (the Roman Serino Aqueduct, Southern Italy)

Writ in water—Unwritten histories obtained from carbonate deposits in ancient water systems

Technical note: „U-Th Analysis” – an open-source software dedicated to MCICPMS U-series-data treatment and evaluation

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