Dating Studies of Elephant Tusks Using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry [electronic resource].
- Published:
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2002.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy. - Physical Description:
- PDF-file: 4 pages; size: 4.5 Mbytes
- Additional Creators:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
United States. Department of Energy
United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information - Access Online:
- www.osti.gov
- Summary:
- A new method for determining the year of birth, the year of death, and hence, the age at death, of post-bomb and recently deceased elephants has been developed. The technique is based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon analyses of small-sized samples extracted from along the length of a ge-line of an elephant tusk. The measured radiocarbon concentrations in the samples from a tusk can be compared to the ¹⁴C atmospheric bomb-pulse curve to derive the growth years of the initial and final samples from the tusk. Initial data from the application of this method to two tusks will be presented. Potentially, the method may play a significant role in wildlife management practices of African national parks. Additionally, the method may contribute to the underpinnings of efforts to define new international trade regulations, which could, in effect, decrease poaching and the killing of very young animals.
- Note:
- Published through SciTech Connect.
10/03/2002.
"ucrl-jc-150511"
9th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Nagoya, Japan, Sep 09 - Sep 13, 2002.
Brown, T A; Sideras-Haddad, E. - Funding Information:
- W-7405-ENG-48
View MARC record | catkey: 13810602