All Questions
Tagged with radioactivity dating
9 questions
7
votes
4
answers
587
views
Why does radioactive dating work on specific rocks?
As I understand it, radioactive dating measures time by what portion of a radioactive isotope has decayed. Weren't all the natural radioactive isotopes created during the solar system's formation? So ...
- 173
3
votes
1
answer
482
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Giem's article on carbon dating
I don't want to start any controversy. I'm just curious about what could professional geologists say about this paper, and what is it's current scientific status, since I couldn't find any serious ...
- 141
3
votes
1
answer
289
views
Why can isotopes reflect the age of the Earth rather than the age of the supernova that created them?
Radiometric dating is based on heavier elements decaying into lighter elements, for example uranium decaying to lead. But wasn't all uranium in the Solar System created in one or more supernova? And ...
- 693
2
votes
1
answer
91
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In radiometric isochron dating why is at t=0 D*/Dref=const but P/Dref not?
I am a physics graduate and trying to understand one of the assumptions made for isochron dating of rocks: at crystallization time of the rock, $t=0$, the ratio of the parent isotope to a stable ...
- 173
2
votes
2
answers
332
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Radiometric dating data sets
I am in the process of learning what sort of data is collected with radiometric dating techniques, used for absolute dating. It sounds like there are two primary ones:
Radiocarbon dating (~50k year ...
- 289
2
votes
1
answer
2k
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Does anyone know more about Creationist stunts where they get labs to date Triassic Coal with C14 and recent Mt St Helens lava with K-Ar
A Creationists keeps responding to me insisting that radioactive dating is invalid because someone dated a 1986 lava flow from St Helens to 250,000 yrs, and they got a C14 date on Triassic Coal from ...
- 29
2
votes
1
answer
202
views
Potassum-Argon Dating and Proportions of Daughter Products in Potassium 40 Decay Channel
So Potassium 40 decays in such a way that roughly 89% of it becomes Calcium 40 and 11% of it becomes Argon 40. When they list these figures are they implying that after 1 half-life, of the 50% of the ...
- 303
2
votes
0
answers
44
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Variability in 4.5 billion year age of earth based on radioactive dating of meteorites?
Which meteorites in particular give an age of 4.5 billion years and which isotopes are used for radioactive analysis? Is there much variability if different meteorites or isotopes are used?
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
992
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How can radiometric dating of meteorites determine the age of the earth? Wouldn't this only determine the age of the decaying nuclide in each rock? [duplicate]
How can the radiometric dating of different meteorites determine the age of the earth? Wouldn't radioactive decay have already been occurring in all of those meteorites long before they hit earth? ...
- 13