Editing Radiocarbon dating (section)

==Use outside archaeology==
Archaeology is not the only field that uses radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dates can also be used in geology, sedimentology, and lake studies, for example. The ability to date minute samples using AMS has meant that palaeobotanists and palaeoclimatologists can use radiocarbon dating directly on pollen purified from sediment sequences, or on small quantities of plant material or charcoal. Dates on organic material recovered from strata of interest can be used to correlate strata in different locations that appear to be similar on geological grounds. Dating material from one location gives date information about the other location, and the dates are also used to place strata in the overall geological timeline.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Godwin|first1=Harry|year=1961|title=The Croonian Lecture: Radiocarbon dating and Quaternary history in Britain|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences|volume=153|issue=952|pages=287–320|doi=10.1098/rspb.1961.0001|bibcode=1961RSPSB.153..287G|s2cid=140692260}}</ref>

Radiocarbon is also used to date carbon released from ecosystems, particularly to monitor the release of old carbon that was previously stored in soils as a result of human disturbance or climate change.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dean|first1=Joshua F.|last2=Garnett|first2=Mark H.|last3=Spyrakos|first3=Evangelos|last4=Billett|first4=Michael F.|date=2019|title=The potential hidden age of dissolved organic carbon exported by peatland streams|journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences|language=en|volume=124|issue=2|pages=328–341|doi=10.1029/2018JG004650|issn=2169-8953|bibcode=2019JGRG..124..328D|doi-access=free|hdl=1893/28684|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Recent advances in field collection techniques also allow the radiocarbon dating of [[methane]] and [[carbon dioxide]], which are important [[greenhouse gas]]es.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Elder|first1=Clayton D.|last2=Xu|first2=Xiaomei|last3=Walker|first3=Jennifer|last4=Schnell|first4=Jordan L.|last5=Hinkel|first5=Kenneth M.|last6=Townsend-Small|first6=Amy|last7=Arp|first7=Christopher D.|last8=Pohlman|first8=John W.|last9=Gaglioti|first9=Benjamin V.|date=2018|title=Greenhouse gas emissions from diverse Arctic Alaskan lakes are dominated by young carbon|journal=Nature Climate Change|language=en|volume=8|issue=2|pages=166–171|doi=10.1038/s41558-017-0066-9|issn=1758-678X|bibcode=2018NatCC...8..166E|s2cid=90232027|url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9q0086pg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dean|first1=Joshua F.|last2=Billett|first2=Michael F.|last3=Murray|first3=Callum|last4=Garnett|first4=Mark H.|date=2017|title=Ancient dissolved methane in inland waters revealed by a new collection method at low field concentrations for radiocarbon ( 14 C) analysis|journal=Water Research|language=en|volume=115|pages=236–244|doi=10.1016/j.watres.2017.03.009|pmid=28284090|doi-access=free|hdl=1893/25135|hdl-access=free}}</ref>