The Elbrus Volcanic Center: New Features of EPR Dating of Rocks

—The restoration of the evolution of the Elbrus Volcanic Center (EVC) is of great importance for predicting possible eruptions. Some stages of its development occur in a time interval that is difficult to measure by conventional radioisotope techniques. In this regard, in this work, we studied the possibility of using the dating method by radiation centers in quartz for which the concentration was measured with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. When dating lava flows with an age of less than 50 ka, there is a good convergence of the results obtained by the EPR dating, radiocarbon, and comparative geomorphological methods. Due to the low thermal stability of radiation centers in quartz, in some cases, the measured values of age reflect a later thermal impact of overlying lava flows or intrusive bodies. The improved technique of EPR dating with intermediate annealing led to results that have better convergence with the data obtained by the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and K–Ar methods for rocks older than 50 ka.