Hope College Physics Department
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Summer 2009
Project Summary

 

Project Title: Radiodating of Streambed Sediment
Student Name: Timothy Nagi
Student's Home Institution: Hope College
Research Advisor: Dr. Paul DeYoung and Dr. Graham Peaslee
Source of Support: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF-REU Grant No. PHY-0452206 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. RUI 0651627.

The isotopic makeup of samples of streambed sediment collected in Wisconsin, varying in their original location, collection date, and depth, was analyzed using γ-ray spectroscopy. The spectra were measured using high-purity germanium detectors in a low background counting facility. The goal of this project was to determine the ratio of the amount of sediment coming from surface sources to the amount coming from underground sources. This was to be done by comparing the number of 7Be atoms present at the time of sample collection to the number of supported 210Pb atoms present at the time of sample collection. To find these values, corrections had to be made for detector efficiency, attenuation, background radiation, elapsed time since collection, and the presence of unsupported 210Pb. Data collection and analysis is ongoing. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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