The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, is helping scientists improve the methods used to date geological events and ancient rocks. Because the date of the eruption is known, 24 August AD 79, it served as a reference point to recalibrate these techniques.
The team, led by Paul Renne of the Berkeley Geochronology Center at the University of California, with participation from the University of Padua, analysed eight samples of volcanic minerals from Vesuvius. Using a refined argon-argon dating method, it estimated the age of the eruption at 1,938 years before the analysis, carried out in 2025, with a margin of 13 years.
The actual age of the minerals was 1,946 years, making the estimate about twice as precise as that of the earlier method, which required samples to be irradiated with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
The researchers also recalibrated carbon-14 dating, used for organic remains such as wood, and uranium-lead dating, applied to very old rocks and minerals. According to Renne, the aim is to unify geological dating methods. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
