Mount Vesuvius eruption helps scientists refine geological dating

Researchers from the Berkeley Geochronology Center and the University of Padua are using the historical destruction of Pompeii to refine argon-argon dating, a key method for determining the age of volcanic rocks and geological events.

Because the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE was documented by Pliny the Younger, scientists have a rare, precise historical benchmark to test the accuracy of radiometric clocks. By analyzing sanidine samples from the eruption, the team achieved a precision of 0.7% and an accuracy of 0.4% compared to the established historical date.

This advancement, published in Science Advances, could lead to more reliable chronologies for major geological occurrences, such as asteroid impacts, mass extinctions, and volcanic eruptions near populated areas like Naples, Mexico City, and Yogyakarta.