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Potassium–argon dating, abbreviated K–Ar dating, is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archaeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar). Potassium is a common element found in many materials, such as feldspars, micas, clay minerals, tephra, and ...
Radiometric dating has been carried out since 1905 when it was invented by Ernest Rutherford as a method by which one might determine the age of the Earth. In the century since then the techniques have been greatly improved and expanded. [17] Dating can now be performed on samples as small as a nanogram using a mass spectrometer. The mass ...
Argon–argon (or 40 Ar/ 39 Ar) dating is a radiometric dating method invented to supersede potassium–argon (K/Ar) dating in accuracy. The older method required splitting samples into two for separate potassium and argon measurements, while the newer method requires only one rock fragment or mineral grain and uses a single measurement of argon isotopes.
Chronological dating, or simply dating, is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is commonly known as a "dating method".
Other radiometric dating techniques are available for earlier periods. One of the most widely used is potassium–argon dating (K–Ar dating). Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope of potassium that decays into argon-40. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years, far longer than that of carbon-14, allowing much older samples to be dated.
Two dating techniques were used to arrive at the approximate age of the beds that make up the ground layers at Laetoli: potassium-argon dating and analysis of stratigraphy. Based on these methods, the layers have been named as follows, starting with the deepest: Lower Laetolil Beds, Upper Laetolil Beds, Lower Ndolanya Beds, Upper Ndolanya Beds ...
The age can be found by knowing the half-life of potassium. [9] Argon-argon dating uses the ratio of 40 Ar to 39 Ar as a proxy for 40 K to find the date of a sample. This method has been adopted because it only requires one measurement of an isotope.
Ar is used in potassium-argon dating of rocks. Minerals are dated by measurement of the concentration of potassium and the amount of radiogenic 40 Ar that has accumulated. Typically, the method assumes that the rocks contained no argon at the time of formation and all subsequent radiogenic argon (i.e., 40 Ar) was retained. [citation needed] 40