The potassium-argon dating method has been used to measure a wide variety of ages. The potassium-argon age of some meteorites is as old as 4,,, years, and volcanic rocks as young as 20, years old have been measured by this method. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions.
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Learn More in these related Britannica articles: This is possible in potassium-argon K-Ar dating, for example, because most minerals do not take argon into their structures initially. In rubidium-strontium dating, micas exclude strontium when they form but accept much rubidium.
K–Ar dating - Wikipedia
In uranium-lead U-Pb dating of zircon, the zircon is found to exclude initial lead…. The radioactive decay scheme involving the breakdown of potassium of mass 40 40 K to argon gas of mass 40 40 Ar formed the basis of the first widely used isotopic dating method. Since radiogenic argon was first detected in by the American geophysicist…. Potassium—argon dating has made it possible to establish that the earliest remains of man and his artifacts in East Africa go back at least 2,, years, and probably further.
Potassium-argon dating , for instance, can provide the age of a specimen by clocking the rate at which radioactive isotopes of these elements have decayed. When radiometric methods cannot be applied, investigators may still ascribe a relative age to a fossil by relating it to the…. More About Potassium-argon dating 5 references found in Britannica articles Assorted References major reference In dating: Analysis of separated minerals In dating: Potassium—argon methods age determination of tektites In tektite: I can't exactly follow the logic, but I'm asking here about the dating process itself.
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How does argon-argon dating work? I do not think that Argon decays into Argon as the article states, at least not all by itself. And when I look at the Wikipedia article , the discussion is so technical and defensive that I can't actually picture what is going on. As noted in the comments the wikipedia articles at the time this question was submitted are contradictory.
Potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating
There are quite a few steps to the logic of how argon-argon dating works but none are too complicated, although I won't go into all of the possible interferences. One thing to keep in mind is that high-precision isotope measurements always measure ratios between isotopes, not absolute concentrations.
Potassium is radioactive but has such a long half-life that it is primordial - it has been around since the earth was being formed. Because of this, we can assume that the potassium Potassium decays in 2 different ways. Most decays by beta decay to calcium If the argon stays trapped in the crystal and you can measure the ratio of potassium to argon, then you know how long it has been since the mineral formed.
This also assumes that there is no other source of argon like trapped air. A problem is that it takes two separate measurements to get the potassium concentration and the argon isotope ratios, increasing the uncertainty.
Your Answer
Argon-argon dating gets around many of the issues by measuring only multiple isotopes of argon. The trick is to irradiate the sample with neutrons along with samples of known age. Some of the potassium forms argon by an n,p reaction.
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By converting potassium to argon then measuring the argon The standards of known age are used to account for differences in the neutron flux during irradiation. Argon in the sample accounts for any air contamination. By clicking "Post Your Answer", you acknowledge that you have read our updated terms of service , privacy policy and cookie policy , and that your continued use of the website is subject to these policies. Home Questions Tags Users Unanswered. How does argon-argon dating work - need a simple but not-wrong explanation Ask Question.