Radiocarbon dating a third radiocarbon revolution. Occasionally, radiocarbon dating techniques date an object of popular interest, for example the Shroud of Turin, a piece of linen cloth thought by some to bear an image of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Three separate laboratories dated samples of linen from the Shroud in 1988; the results pointed to 14th-century origins, raising doubts about the shroud's authenticity as an alleged 1st-century relic. Researchers have studied other radioactive isotopes created by cosmic rays to determine if they could also be used to assist in dating objects of archaeological interest; such isotopes include , , , ,
Stable isotope ratio long history of study of these elements is in part because the proportions of stable isotopes in these light and volatile elements is relatively easy to measure. However, recent advances in isotope ratio mass spectrometry (i.e. multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) now enable the measurement of isotope ratios in heavier stable elements, such as iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, etc. The variations in oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios have applications in hydrology since most samples will lie between two extremes, ocean water and Arctic/Antarctic snow. Given a sample of water from an aquifer, and a sufficiently sensitive tool to measure