Identification of paramagnetic centers and the dating of cave dripstones by electron paramagnetic resonance

Dating of samples of cave dripstones collected from the Jaskinia Czarna (the Polish Tatra Mountains) and fossil bones was carried out by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). By this method the age of the sample is found as the ratio of the total dose (TD) to the annual dose rate (D _a). TD is established on the basis of EPR spectra, whileD _a is the sum of the internal dose rate, calculated on the basis of the concentration and activity of radioactive nuclides in the sample, and the external dose rate measured at the site of the sample collection by a calibrated γ-radiation probe. Two models of uranium accumulation were used: the model of linear accumulation and the model on the basis of the assumption of a disturbed radiation equilibrium in the uranium series. The results were compared with the age determined by the uranium-thorium method. Moreover, by the computer resolution enhancement method the dynamics of paramagnetic centers in calcite annealed in nitrogen atmosphere was studied in the range of 283–873 K, and the results were compared with earlier results for calcite annealed in the air. On the basis of the study of paramagnetic center dynamics in dripstone calcite it was established that the radicals responsible for the EPR signals were CO₂⁻ in different symmetries of the crystalline field, CO₃³⁻ in the axial symmetry, CO₃⁻ in the axial and isotropic symmetry and HCO₃²⁻. The results implied that samples to be subjected to EPR dating should be kept at room temperature.