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RADIOCARBON IN MEXICO: FROM PROPORTIONAL COUNTERS TO AMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2021

Corina Solís ,
Efraín Chávez ,
Arcadio Huerta ,
María Esther Ortiz ,
Alberto Alcántara Open the ORCID record for Alberto Alcántara [Opens in a new window] ,
María Rodríguez-Ceja  and
Miguel Ángel Martínez Carrillo Open the ORCID record for Miguel Ángel Martínez Carrillo [Opens in a new window]
Corina Solís
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Efraín Chávez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Arcadio Huerta
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
María Esther Ortiz
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Alberto Alcántara*
Affiliation:
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Periférico Sur y Calle Zapote s/n, Isidro Fabela, Ciudad de México, México
María Rodríguez-Ceja
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
Miguel Ángel Martínez Carrillo
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México
*
*Corresponding author. Email: alberto-luis96@hotmail.com
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Abstract

Augusto Moreno is credited with establishing the first radiocarbon (14C) laboratory in Mexico in the 1950s, however, 14C measurement with the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) technique was not achieved in our country until 2003. Douglas Donahue from the University of Arizona, a pioneer in using AMS for 14C dating, participated in that experiment; then, the idea of establishing a 14C AMS laboratory evolved into a feasible project. This was finally reached in 2013, thanks to the technological developments in AMS and sample preparation with automated equipment, and the backing and support of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the National Council for Science and Technology. The Mexican AMS Laboratory, LEMA, with a compact 1 MV system from High Voltage Engineering Europa, and its sample preparation laboratories with IonPlus automated graphitization equipment, is now a reality.

Keywords

AMSisotopesradiocarbon AMS dating
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 64 , Issue 3: Seven Decades of Radiocarbon Dating: Remembering the Pioneers & Looking Towards the Future. Part 1 of 2 , June 2022 , pp. 615 - 621
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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References

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