CHALLENGES WITH RADIOCARBON DATING LANDSLIDES

Radiocarbon dating is one of the most useful tools in determining the ages of prehistoric landslides, but it's not without its challenges. Aside from the upper and lower age limits of the method, there may be sources of error related to the location samples are obtained from. Sometimes this only becomes apparent in larger datasets. An understanding of landslide depositional processes is important. Radiocarbon records of landslides may be incomplete, too young, or too old (inherited materials). The best records are corroborative, such as the dating of a landslide and its dam, or by the combination of different dating methods. Several case studies of earth flows, debris flows, and landslide dams are considered.