Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Argon constitutes 0.934% by volume and 1.288% by mass of Earth's ... Where the major source of argon is the decay of 40 ... has been used for a number of ...
Argon (18 Ar) has 26 known isotopes, from 29 Ar to 54 Ar, of which three are stable (36 Ar, 38 Ar, and 40 Ar). On Earth, 40 Ar makes up 99.6% of natural argon. The longest-lived radioactive isotopes are 39 Ar with a half-life of 268 years, 42 Ar with a half-life of 32.9 years, and 37 Ar with a half-life of 35.04 days.
The argon found in Earth's atmosphere is 99.6% 40 Ar; whereas the argon in the Sun – and presumably in the primordial material that condensed into the planets – is mostly 36 Ar, with less than 15% of 38 Ar. It follows that most of Earth's argon derives from potassium-40 that decayed into argon-40, which eventually escaped to the atmosphere.
The decay of 40 K to 40 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.
The abundance of argon, on the other hand, is increased as a result of the beta decay of potassium-40, also found in the Earth's crust, to form argon-40, which is the most abundant isotope of argon on Earth despite being relatively rare in the Solar System. This process is the basis for the potassium-argon dating method. [72]
Spectral lines of argon: ... 40 Ar 99.6% stable 41 Ar trace ... mass number comment: mass number comment: no description. Unknown: optional: abundance:
Where the major source of argon is the decay of 40 K in rocks, 40 Ar will be the dominant isotope. Such locations include the planets Mercury and Mars, and the moon Titan. On Earth, the ratios of the three isotopes 36 Ar : 38 Ar : 40 Ar are approximately 5 : 1 : 1600, giving terrestrial argon a standard atomic weight of 39.948(1).
Entrained argon – diffused argon that fails to escape from the magma – may again become trapped in crystals when magma cools to become solid rock again. After the recrystallization of magma, more 40 K will decay and 40 Ar will again accumulate, along with the entrained argon atoms, trapped in the mineral crystals. Measurement of the ...