Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How radiometric dating reads a rock's age
A closed mineral stores a parent isotope decaying into a daughter.
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From the opening
Radiometric dating reads age from the steady decay of a radioactive parent isotope into a daughter isotope inside a mineral. The ratio of what remains to what decay has produced becomes a clock if the decay rate is known and the mineral stayed closed. The opening covers parent and daughter in a mineral, why the mineral must stay closed, and what an isochron is sorting out.
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Inside
- Parent and daughter in a mineral
- Why the mineral must stay closed
- What an isochron is sorting out
- Cooling age versus inherited grains
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Closed-system parent-daughter isotope clocks
- Isochron dating and mineral closure temperature