The U.S. Army has fielded the M58 obscurant generator which employs
graphite. The radiocarbon issue is raised in the EA for the M58. I would
suggest you get hold of the Army Environmental Center for a copy of the
pertinent sections.

John Dendy
Dynamac Corporation
Fort Riley, KS

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Austin, Stephen P SWF [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 7:24 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Effects of graphite on radiocarbon dates?
>
> An archeological question for the list(s).  Can anyone tell me if there is
> a
> confirmed yes or no on the effect of the use of graphite in military field
> testing where there is a potential to alter radiocarbon dates of material
> recovered from archeological sites?  Some military installations have been
> approached to provide training scenarios wherein the obscurants (smoke or
> 'smokescreen' to the non-military folks among us) used to mask ground
> troop
> movements will contain graphite flakes to add an electromagnetic component
> designed to cover infrared signatures (thanks Dusty).  I initially felt
> that
> a large part of the answer might be contingent on the soils and the
> surface
> or near surface exposure of archeological sites (beneath clays,
> differential
> rains, eroded surfaces, etc.).  I have suggested to the environmental firm
> conducting the environmental assessment that they contact some of the
> companies like Beta Analytic for an opinion.  Any other thoughts or
> suggestions?
>
>
> Stephen P. Austin