Abstract
An intercomparison of methodology and of dating results, from α-counting and from the more recent γ-spectrometry method, has been made for marine sediment cores from several locations. The former method involves considerable chemical manipulation, whereas the latter is more straightforward and enables direct interpretation of the results. Similar precisions (∼ 12%) were found for both methods. With the constant flux model, the methods gave calculated sedimentation rates between 4.3 and 7.8 cm a−1 for replicate cores near a ferry pier in Hong Kong Harbor. The γ-spectrometry method is thus a reliable, more rapid method for routine monitoring and investigation of the harbor dynamics and history of pollution.
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