ABSTRACT.Results obtained from a liquid scintillation counter using BGO (Bi 4 Ge 3 0 12 ) tubes have produced more precise radiocarbon dates in our laboratory. Duplicate analyses confirm the electronic stability of the counter with a background of 0.1 cpm. Our 14 C dates agree well with those from another laboratory (Paris 6-LOCEAN). Most of the 14 C dates in this study were obtained on samples taken from different archaeological sites. Calibration of the various dates with the appropriate software (CALIB 5.0 in our case) allows better interpretation of the results and their importance in this understudied region. In this paper, we investigate the performance of the counter by analyzing samples from archaeological and marine sites in Senegal and Mauritania, and report the results in our first laboratory date list.
Following the passing of Prof Cheikh Anta Diop in 1986, the radiocarbon laboratory (LC14) he created 20 yr earlier at the Institut Francophone d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), Dakar, Senegal, fell into a long hibernation. It took nearly 3 yr to renovate the laboratory and reinstall new equipment in order to return LC14 to full functionality and resume its activity. A new dating system has been implemented around a super low-level liquid scintillation spectrometer from Packard, the Tri-Carb 3170TR/LS, located in an underground room.In this paper, we assess the performance of the dating setup (background level and figure of merit) using known samples from Paris 6 and international standards from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). After the calibration, the setup was used to study bolé seashells from the Khant area in the northern part of Senegal (West Africa). The aim is to present evidence of the correlation between the transgression of the Nouakchottan (5500 BP) and a few industries in the Khant area. The corresponding ages are difficult to assess and the dates available for this cultural site are randomly distributed, ranging from 4500 to 1500 BP, i.e., a chronological period spanning from the Neolithic to the Iron Age.
Le comportement de notre environnement dépend de l’équilibre radiatif de son atmosphère et donc, de l’abondance des polluants comme les gaz à effet de serre. Ces gaz anthropogéniques sont dus, en grande partie, aux activités de l’homme depuis l’époque moderne à travers la combustion des combustibles fossiles. Celle-ci libère du dioxyde de carbone fossile (CO2) ff, pauvre en 14C car la demi-vie de ce radioélément (5730ans) est beaucoup plus courte que l’âge des combustibles fossiles. En revanche, le dioxyde de carbone biogénique (CO2) bio et le dioxyde de carbone naturel de fond ou background (CO2) bg sont enrichis en 14C issus des rayonnements cosmogéniques (Production naturel du 14C dans la haute couche atmosphérique) et des essais d’armements nucléaires. Le carbone 14 peut donc, être un marqueur isotopique artificiel utilisé pour distinguer les différentes sources de CO2, car chaque source possède sa propre et spécifique valeur de Δ14C ou empreinte isotopique. Ce travail a pour but principal de faire une évaluation temporelle et spatiale du dioxyde de carbone fossile dans une zone fortement urbanisée et industrialisée. Nous avons alors choisi la région de Dakar avec quelques sites d’échantillonnages très exposés à cette forme de pollution anthropique. Les résultats obtenus ont montré une hausse de la concentration du CO2 fossile au fil du temps et une concordance acceptable de nos valeurs avec celles de la Banque Mondiale pour le Sénégal. Les concentrations en 14C fossiles (Δ14C) ou empreintes isotopiques trouvées, montrent une nette baisse par rapport aussi à un niveau naturel d’air propre supposé non pollué (Zone propre).
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