Absolute Time

Radiometric Dating

• Actually a simple technique.
• Only two measurements are needed:
• 1. The parent:daughter ratio measured with a mass spectrometer.
• 2. The decay constant measured by a scintillometer.

Basis of the Technique

• Radioactive elements "decay." Decay occurs as an element changes to another element, e.g. uranium to lead.
• The parent element is radioactive, the daughter element is stable.
• The decay rate is constant.

What is Radioactivity?

• Radioactivity occurs when certain elements literally fall apart.
• Usually protons and neutrons are emitted by the nucleus.
• Sometimes an electron is emitted by the nucleus, which changes a neutron to a proton.
• Sometimes an electron is captured.

What causes radioactivity?

• Carbon-14 is produced by cosmic ray bombardment of Nitrogen-14 in the atmosphere.
• All other radioactive elements were produced by supernova explosions before our solar system formed. This is called explosive nucleosynthesis.

Common Radioactive Elements, Parents and Daughters

• Carbon-14, C¹⁴ Nitrogen-14, N¹⁴
• Uranium-235, U²³⁵ Lead-207, Pb²⁰⁷
• Potassium-40, K⁴⁰ Argon-40, Ar⁴⁰
• Uranium-238, U²³⁸ Lead-206, Pb²⁰⁶
• Rubidium-87, Rb⁸⁷ Strontium-87, Sr⁸⁷

Basis of the Technique

• As the parent element decays, its amount decreases while the amount of the daughter element increases. This gives us a ratio of parent:daughter elements.
• The decay rate is geometric rather than linear. Unaffected by heat or pressure.

Key Term

• Half-Life: the amount of time for half the atoms of a radioactive element to decay. Doesn’t matter how many atoms started, half will decay.

Half-Lives

• Counting half-lives:
• Half-lives: 1 2 3 4
• Parent :1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.
• Daughter :1/2, 3/4, 7/8, 15/16, etc.
• P:D Ratio: 1:1, 1:3, 1:7, 1:15

Measuring Half-Lives

• Ratios of 1:3, 1:7, 1:15, etc. are for whole half lives, but any ratios can be measured; e.g. 1:4.2, or 8.6:1

The Decay Constant, l

• The rate of decay is called the decay constant. It determines the half-life of a radioactive element.
• The decay constant is unique for each radioactive element.
• Measured with a scintillometer.

The Decay Constant, l

• Some values of the decay constant:
• C¹⁴: 1.21x10^-4 atoms per year
• U²³⁵: 9.72x10^-10 atoms per year
• K⁴⁰: 5.34x10^-10 atoms per year

Calculating a Radiometric Date

• t = (ln (P+D)/P)/l

• What is the half life of Carbon-14?
• t = (ln ((1+1)/1))/1.21x10^-4
• t = (ln 2)/1.21x10^-4
• t = 5,730 years

Some Half Lives

• Carbon-14: 5,730 years
• Uranium-235: 704 MY
• Potassium-40: 1.3 BY
• Uranium-238: 4.5 BY
• Rubidium-87: 48.8 BY

Setting the Radiometric Clock

• When an igneous melt crystallizes, parent and daughter elements are chemically separated into different crystals.
• Further radioactive decay keeps the parent and daughter elements in the same crystal.

Setting the Radiometric Clock

• Individual crystals of the same mineral are dated to give the age of crystallization or cooling. Examples include zircon, muscovite, and biotite.
• Note that whole rock analysis would not give the age of cooling.

Setting the Radiometric Clock

• Carbon-14 is different in that it occurs in organic remains rather than in rocks.
• Clock is set when an organism dies.
• Carbon-14 is absorbed by all living organisms from the atmosphere or the food they eat.
• Useful for about 10 half lives, or only about 57,000 years.

Materials dated using the Carbon-14 method

Charcoal, wood, twigs and seeds. Bone. Marine, estuarine and riverine shell. Leather. Peat. Coprolites. Soil. Pollen. Hair. Pottery. Wall paintings and rock art works. Avian eggshell. Corals and foraminifera. Speleothems. Blood residues. Textiles and fabrics. Paper and parchment. Fish remains. Insect remains. Resins and glues. Antler and horn. Water.

Calibrating the Geologic Time Scale

• Radiometric dates from igneous rocks can be used to indirectly date sedimentary rocks and their fossils. Principles such as superposition and cross-cutting relationships come into play.
• Thousands of radiometric dates have been obtained.

Age of the Earth: 4.6 BY

• The oldest rocks found on earth are 4.0 BY from NW Canada.
• 4.3 BY zircons have been found in younger sandstones in Australia.
• Meteorites and moon rocks are 4.6 BY.
• Rocks older than 4.0 BY on earth have apparently been destroyed by weathering and plate tectonics.