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“Godzilla” plays important part in dating the Naracoorte Caves

The Naracoorte Herald covered a new laser scanner nicknamed “Godzilla” being used at the Naracoorte caves.

The scanner is able to date sand grains contained within cave sediment. The scanner picks up low level radiation accumulation in the grains accumulated from the surrounding environment which is contained until exposed to light. This means the scanner can date the last time the caves were exposed to the sun and external environment – helping date the fossils.

The scanner is currently being used in Alexandrina cave, but will be used to scan more caves to create a detailed and conjoined map of the Caves’ contents.

“Godzilla” has been used to conduct a “fly through” of the caves. The scanner shoots out many lasers – sometimes milimeters apart – and uses these to form a 3D reconstruction of the space. You can see the fly through in the blog below.

The featured image is courtesy of the Naracoorte Herald.

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