Dirty calcites 2. Uranium-series dating of artificial calcite-detritus mixtures

In a previous paper (Dirty calcites, 1) we have shown that the uranium-series analysis of the leachates of impure (“dirty”) carbonates (e.g., travertine, speleothem) can be used to construct isochrons that give 230Th/214U and 234U/238U ratios corresponding to the age of deposition of the carbonate. In order to test this model, we have analysed artificially prepared mixtures of pure calcite of known age and “pure” detritus (clay+sand) from a …