THE hard-water effect is a recognized source of error in radiocarbon dating. It causes ages to be over-assessed and arises when the material to be dated, such as mollusc shell or plant, synthesizes its skeleton under water and so uses bicarbonate derived in part from old, inert sources.

Who found carbon-14 dating?

Willard Libby Radiocarbon dating/Inventors Chemist Willard Libby first realized that carbon-14 could act like a clock in the 1940s. He won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for coming up with the method.