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Processing of Korolevo samples aimed at AMS determination of in situ 10Be and 26Al nuclides and their purity control using follow-up mass spectrometry scans

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Abstract

The sample preparation and evaluation of the effects of impurities on the determination of 10Be and 26Al by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was performed as an initial part of research project determining the timing of early hominin occupation at Korolevo, western Ukraine. The rock samples analysed exhibited various levels of weathering, lithology, and mass. The follow-up mass spectrometry scans revealed Ti impurity in BeO targets which stimulated quantification of Ti in quartz concentrate. The 26Al to 10Be ratios were independent on Ti and Al impurity for samples from the same depositional level. AMS Be current reduction was a function of BeO dilution by TiO2 molecules.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MEYS) within project No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728. Parts of this research were carried out at the Ion Beam Centre (IBC) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e. V., a member of the Helmholtz Association. Samples preparation and AMS measurements were supported by the RADIATE project under the Grant Agreement 824096 from the EU Research and Innovation programme HORIZON 2020 (Transnational Access poject 21002366 and Guest researcher programme). We thank the DREAMS operator team for their assistance with AMS measurements. Irradiation of samples by neutrons for INAA was supported by MEYS project No. LM2018120.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Husinec-Řež, Czech Republic

    Jan Kameník, Roman Garba & Jan Kučera

  2. Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    Roman Garba

  3. Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden, Germany

    Konstanze Stübner, Johannes Lachner & Georg Rugel

  4. Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic

    František Veselovský

  5. Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    John D. Jansen

  6. Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Vitaly Usik

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  1. Jan Kameník
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Kameník, J., Garba, R., Stübner, K. et al. Processing of Korolevo samples aimed at AMS determination of in situ 10Be and 26Al nuclides and their purity control using follow-up mass spectrometry scans. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 1583–1590 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08738-8

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