Studies focusing on earthquake-induced liquefaction features use archeology and radiocarbon dating to estimate the ages of liquefaction features, and thus, the timing of the earthquakes that caused them.
Ceramic artifacts found above and below the sand blow date to the Late Mississippian cultural period (A.D. 1400-1650), suggesting that the sand blow formed at that time. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal in the soil buried by the sand blow indicates that it formed after 1290 A.D. Radiocarbon dating of a corn kernel collected from the top of the sand blow indicates that it formed before 1460 A.D. Therefore, the estimated age of the sand blow is 1290-1460 A.D. (image modified from Tuttle et al., 1999)