Our main goal is bracketing the frequency or velocity of hazardous geological phenomena. We have a long experience in combining a wide array of numerical dating methods, including Radiocarbon, Uranium series, Terrestrial Cosmonuclides (Be-10, Al-26, Cl-36), Thermoluminescence (TL), Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL, IRSL), calibration curves for regional geochronology (aminoacid racemization on shells, soil chronosequences), paleomagnetism and dendrochronology. We use these methods in collaboration with external laboratories, always seeking a tight scientific collaboration with the best international especialists. Improving these methods and the reduction of uncertainties are key to establish the probability of hazardous phenomena in the future.
The challenges we face are:
- 1) to encourage the application of innovative methods in parallel with well-known methods, in order to explore their potential and limitations. These methods include, for example, those based on the combination of terrestrial cosmonuclides Beryllium-10 and Aluminum-26 from depth profile sampling, the application of the Schmidt hammer to exposed rock surfaces, the Series of Uranium applied to the dating of pedogenic carbonates formed in initial phases of carbonate soils (cutans), infrared optical luminescence (IRSL) in feldspars, and the comparison between radiocarbon data and amino acid racemization.
- 2) include, when relevant, a study of the development of paleosoils in the geomorphological analysis prior to any numerical dating, to maximize the chances of success.
