You are on page 1of 33

Radiometric Dating

Radiometric Dating
First Attempted in 1905
Compare U and Pb content of minerals
Very crude but quickly showed ages
over a billion years
Skepticism about utility from geologists
Arthur Holmes and NAS report, 1931
Almost all dating now involves use of
mass spectrometer (developed 1940s)
Mass Spectroscopy
Exponential Decay
Exponential Decay
Half-Life
Determining Half Life
Decay Constant = Fraction of
isotope that decays/unit time
N= Number of atoms
dN/dt = -N
dN/N = -dt
Ln N = -t + C
N = N0 exp(-t): N0 = original
number of Atoms
Determining Half Life
N = N0 exp(-t)
Solve for N = N0/2
N0/2 = N0 exp(-t)
= exp(-t)
-Ln(2) = -t
Half life t = Ln(2)/ = 0.693/
Decay Chains
U-238 (4.5 b.y.) Th-234 (24.5 days)
Pa-234 (1.14 min.)
dU-238 /dt = dTh-234/dt = dPa-234/dt
etc.
(U-238)*N(U-238) = (Th-234)*N(Th-
234) = (Pa-234)*N(Pa-234) etc. Or
N(U-238)/t(U-238) = N(Th-234)/t(Th-
234) = N(Pa-234)/t(Pa-234) etc.
Ideal Radiometric Dating
A (parent) B (Daughter)
A decays only one way
No other sources of B
Both A and B stay in place
Unfortunately there are no such
isotopes in rocks
Branching Decay
Inherited Daughter Product
Diffusion, alteration, metamorphism
Potassium-Argon
K-40 Half Life 1.3 b.y.
K-40 Ca-40 (89%) or Ar-40 (11%)
Ca-40 is the only stable isotope of
Calcium
Total decays = 9 x Argon Atoms
Argon is a Noble Gas and Doesnt React
Chemically
Only way to be in a crystal is by decay
Mechanically trapped in lattice
Potassium-Argon
Ar atoms mechanically trapped in lattice
Susceptible to loss from alteration or
heating
One of the first methods developed
Least stable method
Little used for high-quality dates
Minerals must have K
Feldspars, Micas, Glauconite, Clays
Inherited Argon
Mostly affects volcanic rocks
Usually from trapped or dissolved air in
fluid inclusions
Only a problem for very young rocks
Wont be an issue in metamorphic rocks
Diffuses out quickly in older volcanic rocks
1 m.y. worth of argon is a problem for
100,000 year old rocks but not 500 m.y. old
rocks
Detect by plotting isochron
A K-Ar Isochron
Rb-Sr
Rb substitutes for K, Sr for Ca
Rb-87 Sr-87 Half Life 50 b.y.
Problem: Primordial Sr-87
But there is also Sr-86
If theres no Rb-87, Sr-87/Sr-86 is
constant
If there is Rb-87, Sr-87/Sr-86 increases
Also Rb-87 decreases
Plot on isochron diagram
Isochron Diagram
Isochron Diagram
What initial Sr-87/Sr-86
means
Present ratio in mantle = .703
Ratio 4.6 billion years ago = .699
The more Sr-87, the more Rb-87
decayed
High initial Sr-87 means old source
rocks = remelted continental crust
U-Th-Pb Dating
U-238 Pb 206; Half-life 4.5 b.y.
U-235 Pb-207; Half Life 704 m.y.
Th-232 Pb-208; Half Life 13.9 b.y.
Pb-204: Non-radiogenic
Methods
Isochron
Concordia/Discordia
Short-Lived Daughter Products
Concordia Plot
Discordia Plot
Samarium-Neodymium
Sm-147 Nd-143 (Half Life 1.06 b.y.)
Nd goes into melt more than Sm
Mantle: Low Abundance, High Sm/Nd
Granite: High Abundance, Low Sm/Nd
Nd-144 = 24% of Nd
Nd-144 has half life 2.3 x 1015 years
Can use isochron methods with Nd-
144 or Nd-142 (Stable, 22% of Nd)
The CHUR Model:
Chondritic Uniform Reservoir
(CHUR) line
Neodymium Model Ages
Terrestrial igneous rocks generally
fall on the CHUR line
If they dont, its because the suite
departed from CHUR evolution at
some point
Most common separation: from
mantle to crust
Nd-Sm Model Ages
Uranium-thorium dating
method
U-234 Th-230 (80,000 years)
U-235 Pa-231, (34,300 years)
U is soluble, Th and Pa are not
Precipitate in sediments
Fission Track Dating
Fission of U-238 causes damage to
crystal lattices
Etching makes tracks visible
Can actually count decays
Anneals at 200 C so mostly used on
young materials
Optically Stimulated
Luminescence Dating
Radioactive trace elements cause lattice
damage
Create electron traps
Excitation by light releases electrons
from traps, emitting light
Emitted light more energetic than
stimulating light (Distinguished from
fluorescence)
Sunlight resets electrons
Measures length of burial time
Cosmogenic Isotopes
Produced by particle
interactions with air or
surface Materials
C-14
Be-10
Cl-36
C-14 (Radiocarbon) Dating
N-14 + electron C-14
Equilibrium between formation and
decay
About one C atom per trillion is C-14
C-14 in food chain
All living things have C-14
After death, C-14 intake stops and
existing C-14 decays (5730 years)
C-14 (Radiocarbon) Dating
Half Life: 5730 years
Range: Centuries to 100,000 years
C-14 can be removed by solution,
oxidation or microbial action
C-14 can be added from younger
sources
C-14 production rate by sun variable
Calibrate with known ages like tree rings
Beryllium-10 Dating
Produced by high energy cosmic rays
Spallation of N and O in atmosphere
Half Life 1.51 m.y.
Dissolves in rain water
Accumulates on surface
Also formed by neutron bombardment
of C-13 during nuclear explosions
Tracer of nuclear testing era
Chlorine-36 Dating
Forms by spallation of Ar in
atmosphere
Forms by particle reactions with Cl-
35 and Ca-40 in surface materials
Half life 300,000 years
Ground water tracer
Also formed by oceanic nuclear tests

You might also like