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A new quantitative, reproducible method for determining relative ages of unconsolidated Quaternary deposits containing granitic clasts has been developed and tested. The technique makes use of a microseismic timer to determine the compressional wave velocity (clast-sound velocity) in each clast of a group chosen from a single deposit. From these data a group mean velocity is determined that is proportional to the age of the deposit: the youngest deposits having the highest velocities. The clast-sound velocity method was used to study Quaternary deposits in the San Gabriel Valley and San Gabriel Mountains, California, using a previously proposed four-part age classification for the deposits. The clast-sound velocity group means for the four age groups were found to be statistically separable at better than 99% confidence. A velocity/age correlation curve was determined for these deposits using two radiocarbon dates and one paleomagnetic determination. This curve suggests that the clast-sound velocity method may be used to determine ages of deposits up to one million years old when calibrated with sufficient radiometric dates and may also be used as a tool for correlating undated deposits.
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Richard Crook (1986) studied this question.
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