Changes

==Possible explanations of the conflict==

==Possible explanations of the conflict==

It has been proposed by various observers that the Thera event itself may be responsible for the discrepancy between radiocarbon dates and archaeological dates in the middle of the second millennium BC. It is already recognized that a change in the earth's magnetic field will affect the number of cosmic rays reaching the upper atmosphere, and hence the number of C¹⁴ isotopes being formed, and this explanation is used as part of the explanation of why the C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio does not follow a straight line over the centuries, as compared to figures derived from [[dendrochronology]]. But a cataclysmic event can also distort the ratio of these two isotopes. Nuclear and thermonuclear tests in the late 1950s and early 1960s that were carried out mostly (entirely, for the thermonuclear events) in the South Pacific affected the C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio in both southern and northern hemispheres. If the Thera event gorged up old carbon material from inside the earth, then the distribution of the old carbon in the atmosphere would make any plant material than took it up to appear older than it actually was when measured in mass spectrometers some 3500 years later.  

It has been proposed by various observers that the Thera event itself may be responsible for the discrepancy between radiocarbon dates and archaeological dates in the middle of the second millennium BC. It is already recognized that a change in the earth's magnetic field will affect the number of cosmic rays reaching the upper atmosphere, and hence the number of C¹⁴ isotopes being formed, and this explanation is used as part of the explanation of why the C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio does not follow a straight line over the centuries, as compared to figures derived from [[dendrochronology]]. But a cataclysmic event can also distort the ratio of these two isotopes. Nuclear and thermonuclear tests in the late 1950s and early 1960s that were carried out mostly (entirely, for the thermonuclear events) in the South Pacific affected the C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio in both southern and northern hemispheres. If the Thera event gorged up old carbon material from inside the earth, then the distribution of the old carbon in the atmosphere would make any plant material that took it up to appear older than it actually was when measured in mass spectrometers some 3500 years later.  

This explanation, however, does not seem possible because of the olive branch that was buried in Thera's eruption. Growth rings in the branch represented 70 years of growth for the tree. Samples from various rings were subjected to radiocarbon analysis. The result was that the earliest rings returned values that measured about 70 years earlier than the latest rings and the leaves. This implies that if something had disturbed the atmospheric C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio for the mid-second millennium BC, the disturbance was in effect at least 70 years before the Thera eruption.

This explanation, however, does not seem possible because of the olive branch that was buried in Thera's eruption. Growth rings in the branch represented 70 years of growth for the tree. Samples from various rings were subjected to radiocarbon analysis. The result was that the earliest rings returned values that measured about 70 years earlier than the latest rings and the leaves. This implies that if something had disturbed the atmospheric C¹²/C¹⁴ ratio for the mid-second millennium BC, the disturbance was in effect at least 70 years before the Thera eruption.