Australian National Facility for Noble-Gas Radio-Isotope Measurements

澳大利亚国家稀有气体放射性同位素测量设施： 该设施旨在为研究人员提供使用样品中的天然放射性同位素准确测定水和冰芯日期的能力。放射性碳测年是一种革命性的工具，可以为人类学、考古学和地球科学中的一系列问题提供答案。然而，放射性碳测年法有很大的局限性，它只能测得1000- 50000年的时间：使用放射性稀有气体同位素可以将这个范围扩大到1年到100万年。新设施的这一能力预计将有助于对可能影响水供应、气候和环境变化问题的自流水库、洋流和地质过程的新认识。

Australian national facility for noble-gas radio-isotope measurements: This facility is designed to provide researchers with the ability to accurately date water and ice cores using the natural radio-isotopes in the sample. Radiocarbon dating has been a revolutionary tool in providing answers to a range of questions in anthropology, archaeology and the earth sciences. However, radiocarbon dating has a strong limitation in that it can only date periods from 1000–50 000 years: the use of radioactive noble-gas isotopes can extend this range out to 1 year to 1 million years. This capability in the new facility is expected to support new understanding of processes in artesian reservoirs, ocean currents and geology that may affect questions of water availability, climate and environmental change.