CAPITULO DOS

Los principios de la datación radiactiva.

Nunca se puede repetir lo suficiente que la datación radiactiva fue la mayor revolución en las ciencias geológicas. La
geología es una ciencia histórica que no se puede practicar fácilmente sin una forma precisa de medir el tiempo. Es seguro
decir que no se pudo haber hecho una ciencia de descubrimiento y descubrimiento sin datación radioactiva: reversiones
del campo magnético, la tectónica de placas, el rompecabezas de la extinción de los dinosaurios, la exploración lunar, la
evolución de la vida, la antropología humana, no la mención de la tierra del universo.

Las edades involucradas en las ciencias de la tierra son muy variadas: se miden en años (años), miles de años (ka),
millones de años (Ma) y miles de millones de años (Ga) .Los relojes geológicos deben, por lo tanto, ser muy largos, con una
vida media que va de años a millones de años.

2.1 Citas por isótopos primarios

Imagina que tenemos un isótopo radiactivo R y norte R es el número de átomos de este isótopo. Suponga que las circunstancias

geológicas (cristalización de un mineral o mineral, por ejemplo) encierran una cantidad inicial de R, es decir, el número de átomos de

tiempo de Rata cero, escrito norte R re 0 0 Þ, en una `` caja ''. Si la caja ha permanecido cerrada desde que se formó hasta hoy, entonces

el número de átomos restantes de R es norte R re t Þ ¼ norte R re 0 0 Þ mi l t, dónde t es el tiempo transcurrido desde que se cerró la caja. Si

sabemos la cantidad norte R re 0 0 Þ y la constante decadencia l, midiendo norte R re t Þ podemos calcular

la edad t en el cual la caja se cerró utilizando la fórmula de radiactividad `` al revés '':

t¼1
l En nortenorte
R re R
0 re
0 Þt Þ:

Los métodos en los que las cantidades iniciales de isótopos radiactivos son suficientemente conocidos son, sobre todo,
aquellos en los que el isótopo radiactivo se produce por irradiación con rayos cósmicos. Este es el caso decarbon-14 ( 14 C)
andberilio-10 ( 10 Ser).

Ejercicio

La vida media de 14 C es 5730 años. los 14 El contenido de C de la atmósfera es de 13,2 desintegraciones por minuto y por gramo
(dpm g 1) de carbono (actividad inicial UN 0). Deseamos fechar un artefacto egipcio que data de aproximadamente 2000 AC. ¿Cuál
es la actividad aproximada ( UN) de este artefacto? Si nuestro método puede medir 1 dpm, ¿qué masa de la muestra
(probablemente preciosa) tendrá que ser destruida?
 30 Los principios de la datación radiactiva.

Responder
Si la vida media T ¼ 5730 años, la constante de descomposición es l ¼ ln2 = T ¼ 1: 209 10 4 4 año 1) 2000 AC corresponde a un tiempo

4000 años antes del presente, por lo tanto, desde UN 0 0 ¼ 13.2dpmg 1 y

UN ¼ UN 0 0 mi l t, UN ¼ 7 dpmg 1)

Hacer la medición significa usar al menos 1/7 g, o 142 mg de la muestra. Como se ve en los ejemplos, la abundancia de un
isótopo radiactivo se estima en relación con una referencia. por 14 C usamos carbono total. La fórmula de datación es por lo
tanto:

t¼1
l En re 14reC14=CC=ÞC0 0Þ t

dónde ( 14 C) y (C) representan las concentraciones de 14 C y carbono total, respectivamente.

En otros casos, se toma como referencia un isótopo estable vecino que no está sujeto a la desintegración radiactiva. Entonces
para 14 C, usamos estable 13 C y escribimos:

" ##

t¼1 :
l En re 14reC14= 13
C= C 13
Þ 0C0 Þ t

Esta formulación tiene la ventaja de presentar relaciones isotópicas, es decir, las relaciones medidas directamente por
espectrometría de masas.

2.2 Citas por isótopos padre-hija

2.2.1 Principio y ecuaciones generales

La facultad de fechar por el padre del isótopo es, por supuesto, saber norte R re 0 0 Þ, es decir, saber exactamente
cuántos átomos radioactivos quedaron atrapados en el cuadro al comienzo. Esta dificultad se supera involucrando al
isótopo hija estable producido por la desintegración observada (D) (el asterisco es un recordatorio del origen
radiactivo del isótopo R *). La relación padre ^ hija se escribe:

re R Þ ! re re Þ
:
l

De TheCurie ^ Rutherford ^ Soddylaw, podemos escribir:

re norte R re t Þ

re t ¼? l norte R re t Þ

re norte re re t Þ

re t ¼? re norte R re treÞt ¼ l norte R re t Þ:

La integración de la primera ecuación cede la ley de descomposición, norte R re t Þ ¼ norte R re 0 0 Þ mi l t. Por lo tanto, el segundo está escrito:

re norte re re t Þ

re t ¼ l norte R re 0 0 Þ mi l t;
 31 Citas por los isótopos padre-hija

que se integra a:

norte re re t Þ ¼? norte R re 0 0 Þ mi l t þ C:

La integración constante C se determina escribiendo en t ¼ 0, norte re ¼ norte RE( 0), por lo tanto:
C ¼ norte re re 0 0 Þ þ norte R re 0 0 Þ. Esto da:

norte re re t Þ ¼ norte re re 0 0 Þ þ norte R re 0 0 Þð 1 e l t Þ:

Pero esta expresión deja lo problemático desconocido norte R re 0 0 Þ. Esto se sustituye ventajosamente por:

norte R re 0 0 Þ ¼ norte R re t Þ mi l t:

Esto da:

1 Þ:
norte re re t Þ ¼ norte re re 0 0 Þ þ norte R re t Þð mi lt

Si la caja permanece cerrada tanto para el isótopo radiactivo como para el isótopo radiogénico, midiendo los valores actuales norte
RE( t) y norte R ( t), podemos calcular t, proporcionadoweknow norte RE( 0). Esto se puede simplificar ( norte RE( t), t). La pendiente de la
curva en cada punto es igual a:

re norte re re t Þ

re t ¼? re norte R re treÞt ¼ l norte R re t Þ ¼ l norte R re 0 0 Þ mi l t:

Por lo tanto, es igual l norte R ( t), a l veces el contenido de isótopos padre. A medida que este contenido decae constantemente, la

pendiente del peligro también lo hace, y la curva es cóncava hacia abajo. Para calcular el manejo, escribimos la cita de la cita:

t¼1 þ 1:
l En norte re re t Þ?norte
norteRrereret 0
Þ0 Þ

Los valores de norte RE( t) y norte R re t Þ puede medirse, pero t canonlybe calculado si norte RE( 0) puede estimarse o ignorarse y, por

supuesto, si conocemos la constante de descomposición l. Figura 2.1 ilustra todos estos puntos.

EJEMPLO

Datación de rubidio-estroncio
Tomemos como ejemplo un dato de rubidio-estroncio. Como se vio, 87 Rb decae a
87 Sr con una constante de descomposición l ¼ 1.42 10 11 año 1) La ecuación de citas padre-hija está escrita:

87 Sr re t Þ? 87 Sr re 0 0 Þ
t¼1 En þ 1;
Rb re t Þ
l Rb 87

dónde 87 Sr (0) es la cantidad de 87 Sr presente en el momento t ¼ 0 y 87 Rb ( t) y 87 Sr ( t) las cantidades de 87 Rb y 87 Sr presente en el

momento t. ( El termino cantidad debe entenderse aquí como el número de átomos o átomos-gramos.) Observe que el tiempo
puede ser revertido y el tiempo presente considerado como el punto de partida, lo cual es más práctico. El tiempo inicial es
entonces en el pasado, edad ( t) tal que T ¼ t.
 32 Los principios de la datación radiactiva.

norte D = norte D (0) + norte R (0) ( 1 – e– λ t)

norte re = norte D (0)

norte R (0)
+ (mi λ t –1)
norte * * R norte * * R

norte re
Number of atoms of R or D

norte * * R

NORTE* R = norte R (0) mi- λ t N RE(

norte D (0)

0)
norte R (0)

00 2 44 66 00 2 44 66

Tiempo graduado en periodos Tiempo graduado en periodos

Figura 2.1 Izquierda: la disminución del isótopo radioactivo y el aumento del isótopo radiogénico. Derecha: el aumento en la proporción de
isótopos radiogénicos / radioactivos.
NORTE* R número de átomos del isótopo radiactivo (R)
norte re número de átomos del isótopo radiogénico (D)
norte R ( 0) número de átomos de R en el momento t ¼ 0 0

norte RE( 0) número de átomos de D en el momento t ¼ 0 0

l constante de desintegración radiactiva

La ecuación se escribe entonces:

87 Sr re pags Þ? 87 Sr re T Þ
T¼1 þ 1;
87 Rb re pags Þ
l En

dónde 87 Sr (p) y 87 Rb (p) se relacionan con los valores actuales (p ¼ presente), y 87 Sr ( T) se relaciona con los valores iniciales en el
momento ( T) Cuando se trata de minerales que son muy ricos en Rb, como la biotita y la moscovita, la inicial 87 Sr es insignificante en
relación con el 87 Sr producido por decadencia de
87 Rb. Para tales sistemas, que se dice que son rico en radiogenia o solo Rico para abreviar), la fórmula de citas está escrita:

87 Sr re pags Þ
T¼1
87 Rb re pags Þ þ 1:
l En

Esta fórmula se puede extender a sistemas ricos en general:

T¼1
l En N re re
norte
pags
R re
Þ pags Þ þ 1:

Como se ve, si l se sabe, la edad se puede calcular directamente a partir de las mediciones de las abundancias actuales de norte
RE( p) y norte R ( pags). La única suposición hecha, pero que es crucial, es que la caja a fechar, es decir, el mineral o la roca, ha
permanecido cerrado desde el momento en que se formó y ese cierre fue corto en comparación con la edad a medir. Este es,
de hecho, el caso cuando un mineral cristaliza o un magma se solidifica como con la roca volcánica o plutónica.
 33 Citas por los isótopos padre-hija

Observación
Dónde l es muy pequeño en relación con la edad, el exponencial se puede aproximar por e l t 1 þ l. Este es el caso de la constante l de
rubidio ( l ¼ 1.42 10 11 año 1) y para muchos otros La fórmula de citas es entonces:

87 Sr re pags Þ
T1
Rb re pags Þ:
l 87

Ejercicio

Supongamos que tenemos una muestra de biotita de granito Que´rigut (Pyre´ne´es Orientales, Francia) cuya edad se
determinará a partir de 87 Rb! 87 Sr decadencia. Medimos el contenido total de Rb ¼ 500ppm y de Sr ¼ 0.6ppm. Sabiendo que Rb
está compuesto de 87 Rb y 85 Rb en ​las proporciones 85 Rb / 87 Rb ¼ 2.5, que el Sr es radiogénico "puro" 87 Sr, y que la constante de
descomposición es l ¼ 1.42 10 11 año 1, Calcule la edad de la biotita en el granito Que´rigut.

Responder
El contenido de Rb se escribe Rb total ¼ 85 Rb þ 87 Rb ¼ ( 2.5 þ 1) 87 Rb, por lo tanto:

87 Rb ¼ Rb total
142: 8 ppm:
3: 5

los 87 El contenido de Sr es 0.6ppm. (No hay necesidad de volver a los átomos-gramos ya que 87 Rb y 87 Sr tiene prácticamente la misma

masa atómica.) Por lo tanto, podemos escribir directamente:

1 1:42 10 11 0: 6
T 298 10 6 6 año ¼ 298 millones de años:
142: 8

Si no hubiéramos adoptado la aproximación lineal, habríamos obtenido:

1 1:42 10 11 En 0: 6
T 297: 36 10 6 6 año:
142: 8 þ 1

Como puede verse, la aproximación lineal es válida para 87 Rb / 87 Sistema Sr cuando la edad no es demasiado grande.

2.2.2 Caso especial de descomposición múltiple

Consideremos el caso del largo período 40 Isótopo radioactivo que se descompone de dos maneras diferentes, ya sea mediante

captura de electrones 40 Aror por la decadencia 40 Ca, cada uno con su propia decadencia constante l mi y l , respectivamente:

mi - gorra 40 Arkansas

40 K

40 California

β-

¿Cuál es la fórmula de citas? Letusgetbacktobasics:

d = d t ½ norte K re t Þ? ¼? Ð l mi þ l Þ norte K re t Þ
 34 The principles of radioactive dating

dónde norte K es el número de 40 Knuclides y norte Arkansas el número de 40 Ar nucleidos.

d = d t ½ norte Arkansas re t Þ? ¼ l mi norte K re 0 0 Þ mi re l mi þ l Þ t:

Integrando usando la notación inusual con 40 Kand 40 Arkansas 0 0 da:

40 Arkansas re t Þ ¼ 40 Arkansas 0 0 þ 40 K re t Þ l mi
1
l mi þ l mi re l mi þ l Þ t

con l mi ¼ 0.581 10 10 año 1 y l ¼ 4.962 10 10 año 1)

l ¼ l mi þ l ¼ 5: 543 10 10 año 1:

La inicial 40 Ar suele ser insignificante. Por lo tanto, generalmente estamos tratando con sistemas ricos
pero no con sistemas muy jóvenes donde se conoce como exceso de argón plantea dificultades para los cálculos de
precisión.

Ejercicio

Analizamos 1 g de biotita extraída del granito Que´rigut por el 40 K– 40 Método Ar. La biotita contiene 4% de K y 40 K ¼ 1.16 10 4 4 de
K total.
La cantidad de argón medida a temperatura y presión estándar es 4.598 10 5 5 cm 3
de 40 Arkansas. ¿Cuál es la edad radiométrica de esta biotita?

Responder
La fórmula de citas para calcular la edad está escrita:

40 Arkansas
l mi þ l si
T¼1 En þ 1:
l mi þ l si 40 K l mi

Por lo tanto, debemos calcular el 40 Arkansas/ 40 Relación K en átomos.

Como hay 22 400 cm 3 in a mole at standard temperature and pressure, the value of 40 Ar in number of moles is:

4:598 10 5
¼ 2:053 10 9 moles of 40 Ar:
22 400

The value of 40 K is:

0:04 1:16 10 4
¼ 1:16 10 7 moles of 40 K:
40

Therefore:

T ¼ 10 9 0:1048 þ 1 ¼ 280million years:

0:5543 ln 2:053 10
1:16
9 10 7

Comparing this with the result obtained previously using the 87 Rb– 87 Sr method, we find about the same age but slightly younger.

There is another branched decay used in geology, that of 138 Lawhich decays into 138 Ba and 138 Ce (Naka ¨
ı etal., 1986 ).
 35 Dating by parent–daughter isotopes

e – cap 138 Ba
λ Cap e – = 4.44 . 10 –12 yr –1
138 La

λβ = 2.29 . 10 –12 yr –1
β – 138 Ce

There is also a case where even more intense multiple decayoccurs, in the spontaneous ¢ssion of 238 U,
which yields a whole series of isotopes. Luckily, ¢ssion decay is negligible comparedwith decay. In the dating
equationwe can consider the constant l alone as the decay constant, but allowancemustbemade, of course, for
the¢ssion products. For example, for 136 Xewewrite thedatingequation:

136 Xe radio
ð elt 1Þ
238 U ¼ Y l fission l

where Y is theyieldof 136 Xeproducedduring¢ssion 0.0673,with l ¢ssion ¼ 8.47 10 17 yr 1

and l ¼ 1.55 10 10 yr 1.
Wesawwhen lookingatdatingbyparentisotopesthat itwas convenienttoexpressthedating equationby
introducing isotope ratios rather than moles of radioactive and radiogenic isotopes.This is
callednormalization.Thus for 87 Rb^ 87 Srweuseastablestrontiumisotope,
86Sr.Thedatingequation is thenwritten:
" 87 Sr 87 Sr
!þ1 #
86 Sr ð tÞ 86 Sr ð 0Þ
t¼1 87 Rb :
l ln 86 Sr

This is the form inwhich dating equationswill be expressed fromnowon. Asystemwill be richwhen:

87 Sr 87 Sr
86 Sr ð 0 Þ 86 Sr ð t Þ:

2.2.3 Main geochronometers based on simple

parent–daughter ratios
87 Sr; l ¼ 1.42 10 11 yr 1. The normalization isotope is
Rubidium^Strontium 87 Rb
86 Sr.Developed in itsmodern formby Aldrich et al. ( 1953 ).

Potassium^Argon 40 K^ 40 Ar, with the constants alreadygiven.The reference isotope is

36 Ar.Developed in itsmodern formby Aldrich and Nier ( 1948a ).

187 Os with l ¼ 1.5 10 11 yr 1. The reference isotope is

Rhenium^Osmium 187 Re
186 Os and more recently 188 Os. Developed by Luck, Birck, and Alle' gre in 1980 after a ¢rst attemptby Hirt etal. in

1963 .

These are the three simple clocks that are commonly found as rich systems in nature.We shall see
thatother formsofdecaycanbeusedbutundermoredi⁄cult circumstances.

Samarium^Neodymium 147 Sm 143 Nd; l ¼ 6.54 10 12 yr 1. Normalizationby 144 Nd. Developedby Lugmair and Marti in
1977 afteranattemptby Notsu etal. in 1973 .
 36 The principles of radioactive dating

176 Hf; l ¼ 2 10 11 yr 1. Normalization with 177 Hf.

Lutetium^Hafnium 176 Lu
Developedby Patchett and Tatsumoto ( 1980a , 1980b ).

These methods are supplemented by others related to radioactive chains which are to be examined next, by
the extinct radioactive methods covered in Section 2.4 , and by the inducedradioactivemethods examined
inChapter 4 .

2.3 Radioactive chains

2.3.1 Principle and general equations

When 238 U, 235 U, and 232 Thdecay, theygive risetothreeother radioactive isotopeswhich, in turn, decay into new
radioactive elements, and so on.The process stops when the last isotopes produced are the three lead isotopes
206 Pb, 207 Pb, and 208 Pb, which are stable. It was radioactive chains which allowed both Pierre and Marie Curie and
Rutherford and
Soddy to discover themechanisms of radioactivity. A radioactive chain canbe represented bywriting:

ð 1 Þ ! ð 2 Þ ! ð 3 Þ ! ð 4 Þ ! . . . ! ð n Þ stable:

Decay involves and radioactivity.Alpharadioactivitygiveso¡heliumnuclei.Theirpath, inthe ( Z,N) plot, brings the

endproduct intothevalleyofstability.
Figure 2.2 shows the precise structure of the three chains.Mathematically, as studiedby
Bateman ( 1910 ), radioactive chains can be described by the Curie^Rutherford^Soddy lawswrittenoneafter
theother:

d N1 ð t Þ d N4 ð t Þ
d t ¼ l1 N1 ð t Þ d t ¼ l3 N3 ð t Þ l4 N4 ð t Þ
d N2 ð t Þ .
.
.
d t ¼ l1 N1 ð t Þ l2 N2 ð t Þ
d N3 ð t Þ d Nn
d t ¼ l2 N2 ð t Þ l3 N3 ð t Þ d t ¼ l Nn1 ð t Þ

where N i is the number of nuclides of elements i and N n the number of nuclides of the ¢nal stable isotope.
Successive integration of these equations presents no real di⁄culty and is evenagood revision exercise for
integrating¢rst-orderdi¡erential equationswith constant coe⁄cients. Letus leave that for nowand concentrate on a
fewsimple and important limitingcases.

2.3.2 Secular equilibrium: uranium–lead methods

We suppose that, in view of the length of geological time, the radioactive chain reaches a stationarystatewhere
the contentofall the intermediate radioactive isotopes remains constant (this isknownas secularequilibrium):

d N2
d t ¼ d N 3d t ¼ ¼ d N n 1 d t ¼ 0:
 37 Radioactive chains

234 U 238 U
92
248 ka 4.5 Ba
234 Pa

1.2 m 234 Th
90

Z 75 ka 24 d

226 Ra
88
1622 yr

222 Rn
86
38 d

210 Po 214 Po 218 Po 235 U

84 92
138 d 2x10- 4 s 3.1 m 713 Ma
210 Bi 214 Bi 20 m 214 Pb 231 Pa

50 d 34 ka
210 Pb 227 Th 17 d 227 Ac
82 206 Pb 230 Th 231 Th 90
22 yr 27 m
26 h

22 yr
223 Ra
88
11 d

219 Rn
86
3.9 s
228 Th 232 Th
90
1.9 yr 14 Ba
215 Po 228 Ac
84
2x10 –3 s 6.1 h
211 Bi 224 Ra 228 Ra
88
2.2 m 211 Pb 3.6 d 6.7 yr
207 Pb
82
° 36 m
207 Ti 220 Rn
86
4.8 m 55 s

212 Po 3x10 –7 s 212 216 Po

84
0.16 s
Bi

N
61 m 212 Pb
208 Pb
82
11 h
208 TI

3.1 m

124 126 128 130 132 134 136 138 140 142 144 146

Figure 2.2 Radioactive chains represented on the proton–neutron graph. Each slot contains the symbol of the isotope and its period T 1

2. Identify the various types of radioactivity of the three chains for yourself.

Inthis case,wethereforehave:

l 1 N 1 ¼ l 2 N 2 ¼ l 3 N 3 ¼ . . . ¼ l n 1 N n 1;

therefore:

d Nn
d t ¼ l 1 N 1:

It is as iftherewas just asingledirectdecayreaction (1)!( n).

Considering the fact that in the course of geological time natural radioactive chains rapidly reach
equilibrium, the initial products give the end products directly. Dating equations canthenbewritten:

206 Pb ¼ 238 U ð e l 8 t
1 Þ þ 206 Pb 0
207 Pb ¼ 235 U ð e l 5 t
1 Þ þ 207 Pb 0
208 Pb ¼ 232 Th ð e l 2 t
1 Þ þ 208 Pb 0

where constants l 8, l 5, and l 2 arethoseof 238 U, 235 U, and 232 Th.

 38 The principles of radioactive dating

238 U ! 206 Pb
l 238 ¼ l 8 ¼ 1:551 25 10 10 yr 1
235 U ! 207 Pb
l 235 ¼ l 5 ¼ 9:8485 10 10 yr 1
232 Th ! 208 Pb
l 232 ¼ l 2 ¼ 4:9475 10 11 yr 1:

This comes downto direct parent^daughter dating. Warning! Linearapproximation cannot be usedwith these
chronometers.To be convinced of this, let us compare the values of (e l t
1)with ( l t) for time intervalsof 1 and 2 billion years for 235 Uand 238 U.
Letus consider the quantity ½ð e l t 1 Þ l t = ½ elt 1 100, which is the relative error
that canbe expressedas apercentage.
With 235 U, for1billion the error is 41.2%and for 2 billion 68.2%!With 238 U, for1billion
the error is 7.5% and for 2 billion14.7%.These are highly non-linear systems, then, as can be seen fromthe
shapeofthe typical curves inFigure 2.3 .

2.3.3 The special case of lead–lead methods

We have seen that on the geological timescale radioactive chains attain equilibrium and it can be considered
that 238 U decays directly to 206 Pb, 235 U to 207 Pb, and 232 Th to 208 Pb. For uranium-rich minerals like zircon,
uraninite, or even monazite, the initial amount of lead can be considered negligible. Assuming the system has
remained closed, we can write:

206 Pb ¼ 238 U ð e l 8 t
1Þ

207 Pb ¼ 235 U ð e l 5 t
1 Þ:

Taking the ratio, remembering thatnowadays 1 the ratio 238 U/ 235 U ¼ 137.8,weget:

207 Pb e l5 t 1
206 Pb ¼ 1 137:8 e l8 t 1:

It can be seen that the 207 Pb/ 206 Pb isotope ratio of lead alone gives a direct measurement of time. This
function is implicit and calculating it requires prior numerical values (Table 2.1 ).

Exercise

The 206 Pb/ 207 Pb ratio of a uraniumore deposit is found to be 13.50. What is the age of the ore supposing it has remained closed
since it crystallized and that common lead can be ignored?

Answer
We shall invert the ratio so Table 2.1 can be used. 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ¼ 0.074. The table shows that the ratio measured lies between 1
and 1.2 10 9 years. The result can be improved either by refining the table by calculating the ratio e l 5 t

1=e l 8 t 1 in the interval 1 and 1.2, or by

1 The two uranium isotopes decay each at their own rate from the time that they are first formed. Their ratio is constant as there is no
isotopic fractionation between them. However, this ratio has varied over geological time.
 39 Radioactive chains

0.6

0.8 1
0.4

206 Pb*
238 U

0.6 0.2
0.8

0.4 0 0.6
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

207 Pb*/ 206 Pb*

0.4

0.2
1

0
1 2 3 4
Time (Ga)

0.5 1 0.5
207Pb*
235 U

0 0
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Time (Ga)

1.0 87 Rb- 87 Sr

T = 48.8

238 U- 206 Pb
Age of the Earth
4.56 Ga

0.5
P/P 0

T = 1.25
T = 0.70 T = 4.47
40 K- 40 Ar

235 U- 207 Pb

0.00
1 2 3 4 5
Age (Ga)

Figure 2.3 Non-linear decay of 235 U and 238 U and their end products 207 Pb and 206 Pb. (a) The radioactive constants of these reactions
are very different. The curve on the right shows the change in radiogenic ratio 207 Pb*/ 206 Pb* versus time. (b) Comparison in the same
figure of the principal radioactive clocks used in geology, emphasizing the behavior of U–Pb systems compared to others.

using a linear approximation between 1 and 1.2 10 9 years. The value 207 Pb/ 206 Pb for 1.2 billion is 0.080 12 and for 1 billion is
0.0725. The variation is therefore:

0:08012 0:0725
¼ 3:8 10 5 per million years:
200

The difference is between 0.0740 and 0.0725, that is, 1.5 10 3 million years.
 40 The principles of radioactive dating

Table 2.1 Numerical values of the radiogenic 207 Pb/ 206 Pb isotope ratio

207 Pb
Time (Ga) e l1 t 1 e l2 t 1 206 Pb radiogenic

0 0.0000 0.0000
0.2 0.0315 0.2177 0.05012
0.4 0.0640 0.4828 0.05471
0.6 0.0975 0.8056 0.05992
0.8 0.1321 1.1987 0.06581
1.0 0.1678 1.6774 0.07250
1.2 0.2046 2.2603 0.08012
1.4 0.2426 2.9701 0.08879
1.6 0.2817 3.8344 0.09872
1.8 0.3221 4.8869 0.11000
2.0 0.3638 6.1685 0.12298
2.2 0.4067 7.7292 0.13783
2.4 0.4511 9.6296 0.15482
2.6 0.4968 11.9437 0.17436
2.8 0.5440 14.7617 0.19680
3.0 0.5926 18.1931 0.22266
3.2 0.6428 22.3716 0.25241
3.4 0.6946 27.4597 0.28672
3.6 0.7480 33.6556 0.32634
3.8 0.8030 41.2004 0.37212
4.0 0.8599 50.3878 0.42498
4.2 0.9185 61.5752 0.48623
4.4 0.9789 75.1984 0.55714
4.6 1.0413 91.7873 0.63930

The approximate age is therefore 1040Ma. Direct calculation from the 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratio for 1040Ma gives 0.073 98. The age
is therefore 1042Ma, but such precision is illusory because error is far greater (see Chapter 5 ) than the precision displayed.

2.3.4 The heliummethod

Natural chains feature many instances of decay, that is, expulsion of 4 He nuclei. Thus
238 Udecayultimatelyproduces eight 4 He, 235 Udecayproduces seven 4 He, and 232 Thdecay produces six 4 He.We

canthereforewrite:

d 4 He d t ¼ 8 l 8238 U þ 7 l 5235 U þ 6 l 2232 Th:

Remark
This equation underlies the first helium dating method thought up by Rutherford ( 1906 ).

Integrating the equation, assuming 4 He(0) ¼ 0, gives:

4 He ¼ 8 238 U ð e l 8 t
1 Þ þ 7 235 U ð e l 5 t 1 Þ þ 6 232 Th ð e l 2 t 1 Þ:
 41 Radioactive chains

Byadmitting linearapproximations,which isvalidonly fordurations that arenotexcessive, e l t

1 l t andobserving that 235 U/ 238 U ¼ 1/137.8andthat 232 Th/ 238 U 4weobtain:

4 He ¼ 238 U 8 l 8 þ 7
137:8 l 5 þ 6 4 l 2 t:

Bynoting L ¼ 8 l 8 þ 7 l 5 137:8 þ 24 l 2 ¼ 14:889 10 10 yr 1, weobtain

1
4 He

L 238 U:

This formula isvalidfor youngages.

Exercise

Take 1 kg of rock containing 2 ppm of uranium. How many cubic centimeters of 4 He will it have produced in 1 billion years?

Answer
At 2ppm 1 kg of rock represents 10 3 g 2 10 6 ¼ 2 10 3 g of uranium, and 2 10 3 g of

uranium corresponds to 2 10 3
238 ¼ 8:4 10 6 moles. Using the approximate formula:

4 He ¼ L t U ¼ 14:89 10 10 10 9 8:4 10 6

4 He 125 10 7 moles:

If 1 mole of 4 He corresponds to 22.4 liters at standard temperature and pressure, the amount of 4 He produced in 1 billion years
is 0.28 cm 3.

A L I TTLE HI STORY

The beginnings of radioactive dating

Rutherford performed the first radioactive age determination in 1906. He calculated the amount of helium produced by uranium
and radium per year and per gram of uranium and found 5.2 10 8 cm 3 yr 1 g 1 of uranium.

Ramsay and Soddy had measured the helium content (long confused with nitrogen because it is inert like the noble gases)
in a uranium ore known as fergusonite. The fergusonite contained 7% uranium and 1.81 cm 3 of helium per gram. Rutherford
calculated an age of 500 million years. The following year he found uranium ores more than 1 billion years old! At that time
Lord Kelvinwas claiming the Earthwas less than 100million years old! (See previous chapter .)

2.3.5 The fission track method

Fission reactions emit heavy atoms. The atoms ejected by ¢ssion create £aws in crystals. Suchdefects ^
knownas tracks ^ canbeshownuponmineral surfaces throughacidetching
 42 The principles of radioactive dating

Ionization Electrostatic Relaxation and elastic

displacement deformation

Figure 2.4 Creation of fission tracks in an insulating material.

whichpreferentiallyattacks damaged areas, thosewhere atoms havebeen displaced (Price andWalker, 1962 )
(Figure 2.4 ).
Thenumberof¢ssiontracks iswritten:

238 U ð elt
F s ¼ l fission 1Þ
l

l fission ¼ 7 10 17 yr 1 t 1=2 ¼ 9:9 10 15 yr 1:

In practice, a thin section is cut and the number of surface tracks (and not in a volume) is
measured.Thevisibleproportion s is calculated:

238 U ð elt
s¼ q l fission 1Þ
l

where q is ageometric factor for switching fromasurface toavolume.

To measure 238 U, we take advantage of knowledge that 238 U/ 235 U ¼ 137.8 and measure
235 U by causing induced ¢ssion ( by placing the ore under study in a reactor), which produces tracks that are

revealed and counted.We then have the number of tracks before ( s)

andafter ( i) irradiation.Thegeometric factordisappears:

s
137:8
¼ l fission 1 Þ:
i l G ð elt

We calibratethe£ux ofneutrons inducing 235 U¢ssionandthee¡ective cross-section . 2

By usinga standard samplewhoseuraniumcontent is known andwhich is irradiatedat the same time as the study
sample and by counting the ¢ssion tracks produced, we can then calculate t.

2 The effective cross-section is the probability of a reaction occurring, that is, here, the probability of producing a fission with a given

flux of neutrons. The characteristics of this will be seen in Chapter 4 .

43 Radioactive chains

2.3.6 Isolation of a part of the chain and dating young geological periods

The various radioactive isotopes of the radioactive chain belong to di¡erent chemical
elementssothat,undercertaingeological conditions,oneor twoisotopes inthe chainfractionate chemically and
become isolated, thereby breaking the secular equilibrium. Once isolated they create a new partial chain in
turn. Two straightforward speci¢c cases are of practical importance.

The radioactive isotopebecomes isolatedon its own

First,when a radioactive isotope in the chain (butwitha long enoughperiod) becomes isolated on its own, it gives
rise to a partial chain, but being isolated from the parent it decays according tothe law:

Ni ð t Þ ¼ Ni ð 0 Þ elt

where N i( 0) is the numberofnuclides of the intermediate element at time t ¼ 0. If this number can be estimated,
the decay scheme can be used as a chronometer.This is equivalent, then, todatingby theparent isotope.

EXAMPLE

The ionium method and the rate of sedimentation

Thorium is virtually insoluble in sea water. Thus 230 Th (still known as ionium from the terminology of the pioneers of
radioactivity), a decay product of 234 U with T 12 ¼ 75 ka, precipitates on the sea floor, is incorporated in the sediment and so
gradually buried. There, now isolated, it decays.

At any depth x of sediment from the surface (Figure 2.5 ) we can write:

230 Th ð x Þ ¼ 230 Th ð 0 Þ e l 230 t

where 230 Th(0) is the surface content which is assumed constant over time. If the sedimentation rate is constant, time can be
replaced by the ratio t ¼ x/V s where V s is the sedimentation rate and x the length (depth):

230 Th ð x Þ ¼ 230 Th ð 0 Þ exp x=V s

ð½ l Þ

or in logarithms:

x
ln ð 230 Th ð x ÞÞ ¼ ln 230 Th ð 0 Þ l:
Vs

The slope of the curve (ln 230 Th, x) gives a direct measure of sedimentation rate and the ordinate at the origin gives 230 Th(0).
(Note its order of magnitude of a millimeter per thousand years.)

Thismethod onlyworks, of course, if it is assumed that 230 Th(0), that is the thoriumcontent at the sediment surface, is
constant and if the sediment has not been disturbed by chemical, physical, or biological phenomena.
 44 The principles of radioactive dating

100

50

4.3 mm ka –1
230Thex(dpm g –1)

10

10
20 40 60
Depth (cm)

Figure 2.5 Decreasing 230 Th content in a core from the sea floor and determination of the sedimentation rate. Th ex is the excess
thorium compared with the equilibrium value counted in disintegrations per minute per gram (dpm g 1).

Exercise

The lead isotope 210 Pb (as a member of the radioactive chain) is radioactive with a decay constant l ¼ 3.11 10 2 yr 1. This natural
radioactive lead is incorporated into ice deposited in Greenland by forming successive layers of ice which can be studied like
sedimentary strata. The activity of 210 Pb is measured at four levels in disintegrations per hour per kilogram of ice (dph kg 1). Table 2.2
shows the results.

Calculate the sedimentation rate of the ice. Assuming a constant rate and a compaction factor of 5, how thickwill the glacier
be in 5000 years? Calculate the 210 Pb content of fresh ice.

Answer
The dating equation is written noting activity by square brackets:

210 Pb ¼ 210 Pb e l t :

If the rate of deposition is V and height h, we have t ¼ h/V.

The equation becomes:

210 Pb ¼ 210 Pb exp l h=V

ð Þ

or

lhV:
ln 210 Pb ¼ ln 210 Pb 0

If the 210 Pb content has remained constant over time, the data points must be aligned in a (ln [activity, h]) plot. The slope is
therefore l= V . The data points are plotted on the graph and the slope determined. This gives V ¼ 45 cm yr 1.
 45 Radioactive chains

Table 2.2 Activity of 210 Pb with depth

Depth

0m 1m 20 cm 1.50m 40 cm 2.50m 50 cm

dphkg 1 75 32 5 24 5 10 3

In 5000 years’ time, allowing for compaction, there will be 5000 45=5 ¼ 450m of ice. The 210 Pb content is calculated: surface
activity is 75 dph kg 1 ice.

l 210 N 210 ¼ 75 dph kg 1

hence

75 75 3:5 10 7 ¼ 21:4 10 7 atoms of 210 Pb nuclides

N 210 ¼
3:1110 2 ð 8760 Þ1¼

per kilogram of ice;

8760 being the number of hours in a year. As a mass that gives:

21:4 10 7 210 6:023 10 23 ¼ 7:5 10 14 kg of ice;

where Avogadro’s number is in the denominator and the previous atomic mass of 210 Pb in the numerator.

The 210 Pb content is 7.5 10 17, which is very little! This shows the incredible sensitivity of radioactive methods because 210 Pb in
Greenland’s glaciers really can be measured and used for estimating the rate of sedimentation of ice.

Theparent isotope is isolatedandengenders its daughters

This iswhathappenswithuranium; forexample,whencertainsolidphases like calciumcarbonate are
precipitated uranium is entrainedwith calcium and then isolated. For the ¢rst
radioactiveproductofanynotablehalf-life,we thenhave:

l 2 3 N 2 3 ð t Þ ¼ l 1 U ð t Þ e l1 t e l23 t

where N 2^3 is the number of nuclides in the third intermediate product in the chain.Why? Because the chain
includes very short-lived radioactive products such as thorium-234 ( 234 Th) or protactinium-234 ( 234 Pa) which
reach equilibrium very quickly. Thus, 238 U decays to 234 Th, an element whose lifespan is 24 days, then 234 Pa,
whose lifespan is 1.18 minutes: it canbe considered, then, that 238 Udirectlygives 234 Uwhosehalf-life is 2.48 10 5

years forall typesofusual samples (corals, speleothems, travertines, etc.).

Such a method is applied, for example, to secondary mineralizations of uranium. The soluble uranium
migrates and is deposited further away, leaving the insoluble thorium where it is. Itthen‘‘resumes’’ its
decaygiving 230 Thandwe canwrite:

l 230230 Th ¼ l 230238 U e l 238 t e l 230 t :

Thereforetheageofmigration canbedeterminedbymeasuring 230 Thand 238 U.

46 The principles of radioactive dating

Exercise

Uranium-238 ( 238 U) decays to 234 U which is itself radioactive with l ¼ 2.794 10 6 yr 1.

Sea water is not in secular equilibrium relative to uranium isotopes as 234 U weathers better than 238 U from rocks of the
continental crust and is enriched in the rivers flowing into the ocean. In activity, noted in square brackets [ ], 234 U= 238 U
½
seawater ¼ 1:15. When limestone
forms from sea water, it is isotopically balancedwith the sea water and so takes the value 1.15. A fossil mollusk has been found
in aQuaternary beach formation and its activity ratiomeasured as 234 U= 238 U
½ ¼ 1:05. Work out the dating equation. What is the age of the mollusk?

Answer
The dating equation is:

234 U
e l t þ 1 e l 234 t
238 U ¼ 234 U 238 U 0

because l 234 l 238 and l 238 t 0 if t> 10 6 years.

This gives:
0@ h i 1A and T ¼ 393 000 years.
234 U
238 U
0 1
T¼1 234 U
l ln 238 U 1

2.3.7 General equation and equilibration time

We shall doanexercisetohelpunderstandequilibrationtimeandby the sametokengivethe theoretical answer

totheprevious exercise.

Exercise

Establish the general equation for evolution of an isotope in a radioactive chain andwhere the parent has a longer half-life and
the daughter a markedly shorter half-life. We shall take the example of 234 U ! 230 Th decay to get our ideas straight.

Answer
This is a review exercise for mathematics on integrating a linear differential equation with constant coefficients:

d 234 U d t ¼ l 238 238 U l 234 234 U

d 230 Th
d t ¼ l 234 234 U l 230 230 Th

with 238 U being considered constant.

Integrating the two previous equations in succession for the example in question gives:

l 234 234 U ¼ l 234 234 U 0 e l 234 t þ l 238 238 U 1 e l 234 t

l 230 230 Th ¼ l 230 230 Th 0 e l 230 t þ l 234 234 U e l 234 t e l 230 t :

These two equations can be written with the activity notation in square brackets: l N ¼ [ N],
which simplifies notation and means the l constants can be dispensed with. This gives:
47 Radioactive chains

234 U ¼ 234 U 0 e l 234 t þ 238 U 1 e l 234 t

230 Th ¼ 230 Th 0 e l 230 t þ 234 U e l 234 t

e l 230 t :

This is the general equation for equilibration of a radioactive chain used for chronological purposes.

From there, without resorting to long and tedions numerical simulation, let us try to answer the question: at what speed does
a greatly disturbed radioactive chain return to secular equilibrium? Let us consider the preceding equation with l 234 l 230. The
equation becomes:

l 230 230 Th ¼ l 230 Th 0 e l 230 t þ l 234 234 U 1 e l 230 t :

For the chain to achieve equilibrium, it is necessary and sufficient that:

l 230 230 Th l 234 234 U:

For this e l 230 t must be virtually zero. So t must be less than to 6–10 periods of 230 Th. The chains therefore achieve equilibrium
after more than six half-lives of the daughter product (with the smaller radioactive decay constant).

If 234 U/ 238 U isotope fractionation occurs, which is the case in surface processes, it is 234 U which is the ‘‘limiting factor’’ for the 238
U chain. The time required is therefore 1.5 million years.

If there is no 234 U/ 238 U isotope fractionation, the limiting factor is 230 Th and the equilibration time is 450 000 years.

For the 235 U chain the limiting factor is 231 Pa and therefore a time of 194 000 years. Both chains of the two uraniums are
equilibrated at about the same time in this case. The isotopes of radioactive series used as geochronometers are thosewith
decay constants of more than one year.

Uranium-238 chain
234 U, half-life 248 ka, is used in sedimentaryor alteration processes because 234 U/ 238 U varies during
alteration. The radioactive recoil of 234 U extracts this uranium from its crystallographic siteandsoit is
easilyaltered.
Th, half-life 75 ka.This element, named ionium, is certainly themost widely used for
230

surfaceandvolcanicprocesses.
226 Ra, half-life 1.622 ka. It is used like 230 Th but for shorter-lived surface or volcanic processes.

210 Pb, half-life 22 years. Used for studying glaciers, oceans or volcanics involving very youngphenomena.

Uranium-235 series
231 Pa, half-life 32.48 ka. This is the sister of 230 Th but slightly more di⁄cult to master analytically.

277 Ac, half-life 22 years. This element is not much used as yet because of di⁄culties in

makingpreciseanalyses.
48 The principles of radioactive dating

Thorium-232 chain
228 Ra, half-life6.7years.This is complementary to 226 RatoconstrainthetimescaleofRa fractionation.

228 Th, half-life1.9years.Averygoodcomplement for 228 Raand 230 Th. These elements
canbemeasuredbyalphaandgammaradioactive spectroscopyorbymass spectrometry.The second technique is
far more precisebut less sensitive than counting. In practice, 234 U, 230 Th, 226 Ra, and 231 Pa are measured by
mass spectrometry and the others bycounting.Pb-210canbemeasuredbymass spectrometrybutthis
entailsgreatdi⁄culties andrequires specialprecautions. Forageneral reviewsee Ivanovich ( 1982 ).

A L I TTLE HI STORY

The polemic that followed the discovery of radioactivity

Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity almost by chance in 1898 while studying rays from phosphorescent uranium salts
excited by sunlight and trying to understand the nature of x-rays discovered by Ro¨ntgen. But one day, although there was no
sunlight, a sample from the Joachimsthal mine in Bohemia spontaneously emitted radiation which blackened a photographic
plate, indicating as yet unknown properties of matter (see Barbo,

2003).
Some years later, when measuring the effect of these radioactive substances on an electrometer (the particles ionized the
air of the electrometer which then discharged)
Pierre and Marie Curie proposed calling the phenomenon radioactivity (activity created by radiation). For them, it was the
property certain substances, including uranium, had of spontaneously emitting radiation.

They immediately came in for harsh criticism from British scientists relying on a crucial observation: when the activity of 1 g
of purified uranium was measured with an electrometer, the activity was less than that of 1 g of uranium contained in, say, 100
g of uranium ore. In other words 1 g of uranium ‘‘diluted’’ in 100 g of inert rock was more ‘‘active’’ than 1g of pure uranium.

How could concentrated uranium be less active than diluted uranium? It smacked of magic. It was Marie Curie who came
up with the hypothesis of intermediate radioactive products to explain this paradox. The discovery of radium must be set in this
polemical context, thus taking on its full significance. It was the second intermediate radioactive product to be found after
polonium.

The New Zealander Ernest Rutherford brought grist to the Curies’ mill and within a few years themechanisms of successive
‘‘cascade’’ decaywas understood. Radioactive chains had been discovered.

Shedding light on a paradox

Nowadays the paradox of diluted uranium beingmore active than pure uranium can be fully explained. Suppose a radioactive
chain is in equilibrium, say the 238 U chain:

l1 N1¼ l2 N2¼ l3 N3¼ • • • ¼ ln Nn

noting N 1, N 2, . . ., N n the numbers of nuclides in the various isotopes of the chain. Thus in secular equilibrium there is 14 times the l 1
N 1 activity of 238 U in the chain. (The input from the 235 U chain must be added to this although its contribution is small.)
49 Dating by extinct radioactivity

This is what happens in a rock several hundredmillion years old inwhich the chain has had time to attain secular equilibrium.

Now, in purified uranium, the activity is merely l 1 N 1.

So, if the ‘‘activity’’ of 1g of uranium is measured, it will be 14 times less than the activity of 100 g of 1%uraniumore. Indeed,
the orewould be slightlymore active because theremust also be at least 0.5 g of thoriumwhose chain also produces 11 times
more activity than pure thorium. However, as the thorium constant is 3.5 times less, the outcome would be an increase in the
uranium activity of about 1.5 times.

In all, the rock is about 15.5 times more active than purified uranium. This is the paradox behind the polemic!

2.4 Dating by extinct radioactivity

2.4.1 The historical discovery

Chemical elements ^ that is, thenucleithatmakeupmostoftheirmass ^ havebeenmanufactured in stars ever since

the Universe came intobeing.This is nucleosynthesis. Of the nuclei formed, somearestableandothers
radioactive.Among the radioactivenuclei somehavevery shorthalf-lives: theydecayquicklygiving
risetotheirstabledaughter isotopes.Allofthisgoes on everywhere in interstellar space and iswhat provides the
ordinarymatterof theUniverse. These isotopesare incorporatedintointerstellarmatterasgasesordust (seeChapter 4
). But suppose that nucleosynthesis ofheavyelements (explosionofa supernova) occurred in the vicinityof the
place where the Solar System formed giving rise to certain short-lived radioactive isotopes. Suppose too that
the solidbodies of the Solar Systemformwhile these radioactive isotopes arenotyet
extinct.These‘‘young’’radioactive isotopeswill be incorporated with the other interstellar material in these solid
bodies (planets or meteorites) and there they will decay and give rise to daughter isotopes.The solid objects
having received such inputswill thereforehave abnormal isotope abundances for the isotopes producedby
decayofthe radioactive isotope.Detectingsuchanomalies is thereforethe¢rststep inshowing the
existenceofextinct radioactivity.

In1960 JohnReynolds at Berkeleydiscovered a large excess of the isotope129 in the isotopic composition
of xenon in the Richardton (H4) meteorite (see Reynolds, 1960 ) (Figure 2.6 ).Now, this
isnotanyoldisotopebutthedecayproductof iodine-129(radioactive iodine we know how to make in nuclear
reactors) whose half-life is 17 million years and which, if it formedbefore thebirthof the Solar System, has
disappeared today. And indeed naturallyoccurring iodinehasonlyasingle isotope, 127 I. To prove that the excess 129
Xe did come from the 129 I, Peter Je¡rey and John Reynolds

came up with a most ingenious experiment combining neutron activation analysis, mass spectrometry, and
stepwise outgassingby temperature increments.They irradiated a
sampleoftheRichardtonmeteoriteusinga£uxofneutrons.The 127 Iwas transformedbynuclear reaction (n, ) into
radioactive 128 Iwhich transformedby decay into 128 Xe.This reaction iswritten

127 I ð n; Þ 128 I ! 128 Xe:

 50 The principles of radioactive dating

136 134 132 131130129 128 126 124

x 10 x1

Xenon

Figure 2.6 Mass spectrum of xenon in the Richardton meteorite as measured by Reynolds. The bars indicate the height of ordinary,
say atmospheric, xenon.

They thenheatedthe irradiatedsampleprogressively, after placing it inthevacuumandpuri¢cation line of a mass

spectrometer.They analyzed the isotope composition of the xenon extracted at each temperature increment
and observed that the excess 129 Xe was extracted atthesametemperatureashalfofthe 128 Xe,whereas‘‘ordinary’’xenonwas
extractedatadifferent temperature. Je¡reyandReynolds ( 1961 ) concludedthat 129 Xe is situatedat the same
(crystallographic) siteasnatural iodineandtherefore is indeedthedaughterof 129 I. This extraordinary discovery has
two important consequences. First, it shows that, before the Solar System formed (at a time in the past 5^10
times the half-life of 129 I, that is, 85^170 million years), there was a synthesis of heavy chemical elements. In
addition, this radioactive decayprovidedan exceptional andunexpecteddating tool for studying theperiodwhen
meteorites (and also, as we shall see, the Earth) were formed (see Figure 2.7 ).We shall concentrateonthis
aspectnow.

2.4.2 Iodine–xenon dating

Let 129 I*(0)bethenumberofnuclidesformedbynucleosynthesisattime t ¼ 0,de¢nedasthe

endofthenucleosyntheticprocess.The radioactive iodine decaysby the law:

129 I ð t Þ ¼ 129 I ð 0 Þ e l t:

Supposenowthat,attime t 1, someoftheiodineis incorporatedinameteorite(A)andattime

t 2 someother iodine inameteorite (B).We canwrite:

129 I A ð t 1 Þ ¼ K A 129 I ð 0 Þ e l t 1

129 I B ð t 2 Þ ¼ K B 129 I ð 0 Þ e l t 2 :
 51 Dating by extinct radioactivity

Condensation and
Nucleosynthesis of 129 I planetary accretion Present
(around 4.55 Ga) day

ΔT

129 Xe
accumulation

Time (arbitrary scale)

Figure 2.7 Evolution of 129 I in the Solar System and its trapping in planetary bodies; T is the time between the end of nucleosynthesis
and the accretion of planetary objects.

Here K A and K B arethefactorsof incorporationof iodinebetweenthe interstellarcloudand meteorites A and B,

which is the ratio between iodine concentration in the interstellar cloud and in themeteorite. For
twometeorites ofdi¡erent chemical compositions, K A and
K B are di¡erent. In eachmeteorite, the 129 Idecays completely into radiogenic 129 Xe, 129 Xe* (withanasterisk):

129 Xe A ¼ 129 I A ð t 1 Þ 129 Xe B ¼ 129 I B ð t 2 Þ:

Howcanthisbeusedfordatingaswedonotknowthevaluesof K A, K B, andI(0)? Iodine has a stable isotope 127 I (the only

one for that matter).We divide the expressions describing 129 I decay by 127 I.We can assume that the
incorporation of iodine by the meteorites obeys chemical laws, and so the same rules apply for the 129 isotope
as for the 127 isotope.This means the K values are the same for both isotopes.The K coe⁄cients can
thereforebe removed fromthe equations describing the evolution of the isotopic ratios.This gives:

129 I
¼ 129 I
127 I ð t1 Þ 127 I ð 0 Þ e l t1
A
129 I
¼ 129 I
127 I ð t2 Þ 127 I ð 0 Þ e l t2:
B

There remains one unknown in these equations, namely the ratio 129 I = 127 I 0 ð Þ, in other
wordsthe( 129 I/ 127 I) isotoperatioattheendofnucleosynthesis. It isareasonableassumption that it was identical
throughout the Solar System (and so for all meteorites).We can then ¢ndthe ratiobetweenthetwoisotope
ratiosofour twometeorites:

129 I
127 I ð t1 Þ
A
¼ e l ð t 2 t 1 Þ:
129 I
127 I ð t2 Þ
B
 52 The principles of radioactive dating

Bymeasuring the 129 I = 127 I ð t Þ ratios inbothmeteorites,we can inprinciple calculatethe time interval between the
formation of the two meteorites ( t 2 t 1). This method therefore
provides absolute^relative dating!
The problem comes down to measuring the ( 129 I*/ 127 I) isotope ratio at the time the
meteorite formed.Total 129 Xe is the sum of initial 129 Xe þ 129 I*( t). Today 129 I*( t) ¼ 129 Xe*, since 129 Ihas
decayedentirely.Therefore:

129 Xe ¼ 129 Xe total 129 Xe initial:

The interesting ratiois:

129 I Xe total
¼ A elt
127 I ¼ 129 Xe
I ð t Þ ¼ 129 Xe
127
Xe total I total

with A ¼ 129 I= 127 I 0 ð Þ atthe endofnucleosynthesis.

The problemcomes down tomeasuring the fraction of radiogenic 129 Xe* in total xenon,
andthenmeasuringthe chemical (Xe/I) ratio, since the iodine is all 127 I. We can calculate the age to the nearest
coe⁄cient and therefore, by taking the ratio between the values for the twometeorites, determine the relative
age of the twometeorites. Thebeautyofthismethod lies in its capacity tomeasureverybrief
intervalsoftimebetween the formationofplanetaryobjectsbillionsofyearsago.

Exercise

The 129 I/ 127 I isotope composition measured on the Karoonda and Saint-Se´verin meteorites is
1.3 10 4 and 0.8 10 4, respectively. Given that the half-life of iodine is 17Ma, what is the age difference between the two
meteorites?

Answer
If T 12 ¼ 17Ma

l ¼ ln2
T ¼ 4 10 8 yr 1:

The dating formula is applied:

129 I
127 IA

129 I ¼ 1:3 10 4
127 IB 0:8 10 4 ¼ e l D t ;

hence D t ¼ 1 l ln 1:3=0:8
ð Þ ¼ 12:1 million years. This age is actually the maximum interval
measured.

Exercise

Given that the half-life of 129 I is 17Ma, what is the shortest interval of time that can be estimated, given the uncertainty in
measuring the 129 Xe*/ 127 I ratio is 2%?

Answer
Suppose we always take the same reference, say, Karoonda. There will no longer be any error relative to Karoonda but
everything will be expressed in terms of this reference. Let us take
53 Dating by extinct radioactivity

the previous measurement and look at the limits of uncertainty. The value 0.8 has two limits, at 0.816 and 0.784. Let us
calculate the age t. We obtain 11.64 and 12.64, or 1 million years. The age of Saint-Se´verin (relative to Karoonda) is written
12.1 0.5Ma.

2.4.3 Discoveries of other forms of extinct radioactivity

Since then many forms of extinct radioactivityhavebeen discovered, whichwe shall use as required.
Eachdiscoveryhas requiredthe identi¢cationbyexperimentofparent^daughter relations inmeteorites.We
reviewthemwithafewbriefcomments.

Iodine^Xenon 129 I^ 129 Xe, ¼ 25Ma, discoveredby Reynolds ( 1960 ).

Plutonium^Xenon 244 Pu^Xe ¢ssion, ¼ 84Ma.This radioactivity, discoveredby Kuroda
( 1960 ), produces ¢ssion tracks and the ¢ssion isotopes of xenon 131 Xe, 132 Xe, 134 Xe, and
136 Xe. It is an important supplement to the iodine^xenon method and was discovered veryshortlyafter it.

Samarium^Neodymium 146 Sm^ 142 Nd, ¼ 146Ma.This form of radioactivity, discovered at SanDiegoby Lugmair
et al. ( 1975 ), is interesting because it is has a long half-life andallowsus to connect
long-durationphenomenathatoccurredaround the timeof 4.5 billionyearsago.

Aluminum^Magnesium 26 Al^ 29 Mg, ¼ 1Ma. This form of radioactivity was ¢rst detected in certain minerals
from very ancient meteorites by the team of Gerald Wasserburg at the California Institute of Technology
(Caltech) (Lee et al., 1977 ). It was of historical importancebut it is probablymore important still that
aluminum is a decisive constituent of meteorites (2^3%). It is probable that 26 Al was instrumental in the
veryearlythermalhistoryofplanetesimalsandits in£uenceshouldbeaddedtothe calculations
alreadydoneonthis topic inChapter 1 .

Palladium^Silver 107 Pd^ 107 Ag, ¼ 9.4Ma. This form of radioactivity was detected in iron meteorites by the
Caltech team ( Kelly and Wasserburg, 1978 ). It has shown how old these meteorites are.This means that
metallic iron di¡erentiation is a very ancient phenomenon intheprocessesofformationoftheSolarSystem.

Manganese^Chromium 53 Mn^ 53 Cr, ¼ 5.3Ma.This formof radioactivity, discovered in Paris by Birck and Alle'
gre in 1985 , is interesting because the manganese and
chromiumfractionatebecauseoftheirdi¡erentvolatilities.
Iron^Nickel 60 Fe^ 60 Ni, ¼ 2.1Ma.This form of radioactivity has been found in just a fewbasalticmeteoritesby Shukolyukov
and Lugmair ( 1993 )atSanDiego. It is important because iron is averyabundant element.

Calcium^Potassium 41 Ca^ 41 K, ¼ 0.143Ma. This form of extinct radioactivity is importantbecauseof its

shorthalf-life. Itwas discoveredby Srinivasan etal. ( 1994 ).
Hafnium^Tungsten 182 Hf^ 182 W, ¼ 13Ma. This form of extinct radioactivity, discoveredby Harper and Jacobsen
( 1994 ) atHarvard and thenby Lee and Halliday ( 1995 ) at the University of Michigan, is very important
because Hf and W fractionate during metal^silicate separation, allowing this separationtobe dated,
including inplanets (differentiationofthe core).We shalluse this scheme lateron.

Niobium^Zirconium 92 Nb^ 92 Zr, ¼ 36Ma. This newcomer to the ‘‘club’’ of forms of

extinctradioactivity,discoveredinZurichby Schonbachler etal. ( 2002 ), isyettobeexploited.
 54 The principles of radioactive dating

147 Sm half-life by year of publication

2.0

T = 1.06 ± 0.01 x 10 11 yr
1.6
T ( 10 11 yr)

1.2

0.8 1930
1940 1950 1960 1970

Figure 2.8 Improvement in determination of decay constants over time: the example of 147 Sm.

Chlorine^Sulfur 36 Cl^98% 36 Ar / 2% 36 S, ¼ 0.43Ma was discovered recently by a Chinese team, Lin etal. ( 2005
).Noanomalyon 36 Arwas found, onlyon 36 S.
Beryllium^Boron 10 Be^ 10 B, T ¼ 15 Ma was discovered by McKeegan, Chaussidon,
and Robert ( 2000 ).
Lead^Thallium 205 Pb^ 205 Tl, T ¼ 15.1 Ma was recently discovered by Neilsen, Rehka« mper, and Halliday ( 2006
).

Othershavenotbeen con¢rmedandarenot listedhere.

2.5 Determining geologically useful radioactive decay constants

As just seen,whatallowsus tocalculateageand is theveryessenceofthe radioactive clock is the radioactive

constant l, namely theprobability that anucleuswill decay.Howcanthisbe determined? This is di⁄cult a priori,
given that the constants are generally very small because activity is low (see Figure 2.8 ). To simplify there
are three methods more or less derivedfromthedatingmethod: (1) directmeasurementofradioactivityby l N activity:
ifweknow N, we candeduce l;

(2) measurement of accumulation of the daughter isotope (both these series of measure-
ments aredone inthe laboratory);
(3) geological ‘‘comparison’’ofagesobtainedby variousmethods. We shall examine

these three techniques inthe caseof 87 Rb.

2.5.1 Measurement of activity

We startwiththe fundamental equationdescribingdecay

d 87 Rb d t ¼ l 87 Rb;

that is, thenumberof particles emittedbyunittime is equal to l 87 Rb. Let us take 1kg of 87 Rb, which corresponds to 10
3= 87 6:023 10 23 g (6.23 10 23 is Avogadro’s number), or 6.92 10 24 atoms of 87 Rb. If l ¼ 1.42 10 11 yr 1, the number of

particles emitted in 1 year is 6.92 10 24 1.41 10 11, or 9.8264 10 13 particles.

 55 Useful radioactive decay constants

Remembering that1year 3 10 7 seconds, that corresponds to 3.275 10 6 disintegrations per second,which is

ameasurablevalue: even10 gofpure rubidiumwill su⁄ce.
The di⁄culty lies in measuring particles. Some of these particles are absorbedby the rubidiumdeposit itself.
It is fundamental then tomake layers of rubidiumofvariable thicknessesandtocorrectwhat
isknownasauto-absorption.Thesearetrickymethods tomaster.

2.5.2 The radiogenic isotope produced

For 87 Rb we try to measure the 87 Sr accumulated.Take 1kg of pure 87 Rb. How much 87 Sr does itproduce in1year?

87 Sr ¼ 10 3 g 1:42 10 11 ¼ 1:42 10 8 g;

that is14.2 ng.As strangeas itmayseem, suchaquantitycan easilybemeasuredwithamass spectrometerby

isotopedilution.
Naturally, inpracticewetry tousebothmethods andtocomparethe results.Thequestion is, ofcourse,
howdoweobtain1kgofpureoralmostpure 87 Rb? Isotopeseparation is expensivesowetryrather tousenatural
rubidium, inwhichthere isonlyafractionof 87 Rb.Thedif¢culty is that there must be very little 87 Sr in the
rubidiumbeing measured.The rubidium must thereforebe very carefully puri¢ed by chemical methods, which
is di⁄cult for such a largeamountofrubidium.Themeasurementuncertaintystems fromthis.

2.5.3 The method of geological comparison

If we know the age of certain rocks from methods with decay constants that are easier to determine (such as
uranium) we can then calculate the constant l Rb by measuring the
87 Sr/ 87 Rbratiosonaseriesofrocksormineralswhose (U/Pb) age isknown.

Thismethodtoo is di⁄cult toimplement aswemustbe surethat thevarious systemshave remained closed, as we

shall see in the next chapter . Even so, the method is essential for ensuring the geological reliabilityof the
di¡erent methods.To avoid geological di⁄culties, much use is made of cross-calibrations with meteorites
andmoon rocks.Why so? Because meteorites are rocks dating fromtheoriginoftheSolar
System(andthereforeold) andhave not been subjected to major ‘‘disruptive’’events.We proceed by trial and
error combining the di¡erent approaches.An international commissionmakes regular reviews andupdates the
constants asneedbe.

Let us give three important geological comparisons that use the constants given in the table.

Moon rocks
WechooseRock10072,whichhascomeinforparticularlyclosescrutiny.AstheU/Pbratioislow
thisdatingmethodisnotgoodbut it isagoodwayofcomparingRb^Sr,K^Ar, andSm^Nd.

Datingmethod

Rock10072 K^Ar Rb^Sr Sm^Nd

Time (Ga) 3.52 0.4 3.57 0.05 3.57 0.03

 56 The principles of radioactive dating

Eucrites (basalticachondrites)
These are basalt meteorites, in other words ancient extraterrestrial lava £ows. Dating by U^Pb is extremely
precise because the U/Pb ratios are high. As said, the uranium decay constants are the references. However,
Rb^Sr is not very precise as Rb/Sr ratios are really low. (We are anticipating a little on the next chapter .)
TheK^Ar, Lu^Hf, and Sm^Nd datingsarealsorelativelyprecise.

Datingmethod

Eucrite U^Pb Rb^Sr K^Ar Sm^Nd Lu^Hf

meteorites

Time (Ga) 4.55 0.05 4.50 0.14 4.50 0.1 4.53 0.04 4.57 0.19

Ordinarychondrites
These are the most common meteorites characterized by the presence of chondrules. Comparisonof
Pb^PbandRb^Srdatings isveryprecise. Similarly,K^ArandRe^Os are insuitableagreement.

Datingmethod

Ordinarychondrites U^Pb Rb^Sr K^Ar Re^Os

Time (Ga) 4.55 0.05 4.55 0.08 4.52 0.05 4.54 0.02

Table 2.3 Comparison of methods for determining radioactive decay constants

Isotope Laboratorycounting Accumulation Geological comparison

238 U, 235 U, 232 Th,

This is the reference methodand Notused This is the referencefor
andradioactive is (relatively) precise othermethods
chains
87 Rb
Di⁄cultbecauseofauto- Di⁄culttoshowup Comparisonbetween
absorptionof raysby becauseoftracesof initial methods and in
87 Sr,which ishardto
thepowderbeing particularbetween
counted remove meteorites is essential
187 Re
Impossible: insu⁄cient energy This is thebestmethod; Comparisonwithother methods
(highauto- absorption) wemeasureaccumulated andparticularly meteorites
187 Os
remains essential

176 Lu
Poordetermination Di⁄cultbecauseofthe
importanceof initialHf Comparisonsbetween
methods areuseful
147 Sm
Poordetermination Di⁄cultbecauseof Comparisonsbetween
initialNd,which ishard methods areuseful
toremove
40 K
Veryprecise counting Shouldbepossible ina Comparison is di⁄cult
well-sealed£ask because 40 Ardi¡uses readily
 57 P roblems

2.5.4 Conclusions

Laboratorydetermination ofuraniumand thorium constants by counting is themost

precisemethod.Thesedecayconstants are thentakenas references forothermeasurements.
Table 2.3 shows the pros and cons of the di¡erent techniques for determining decay constants for
thedi¡erentchronometers.

Problems
1 Given that the potassiumcontent of the silicate Earth is 250ppm, 3 howmuch 40 Ar is created in
4.5 10 9 years? 40 K ¼ 1.16 10 4 K total.
Given that 40 Ar cannot escape from the Earth and the quantity of 40 Ar in the atmosphere is 66 10 18 g, what conclusion do you
draw?

2 Suppose a series of zircons gives the results in the table below. Calculate the 206 Pb/ 238 U,
207 Pb/ 235 U, 207 Pb/ 206 Pb, and 208 Pb/ 232 Th ages. Which ages appear most reliable to you? If we know that the samplesmust be of the

same geological age, which agewould you recommend?

206 Pb/ 204 Pb 207 Pb/ 204 Pb 208 Pb/ 204 Pb

U (ppm) Th (ppm) Radiogenic Pb (ppm)

415 86.4 30.5 1138 84.34 116.2

419 84.0 30.4 1984 130.7 162.5
482 85.0 32.6 2292 147.5 174.1
507 81.8 34.0 3301 206.0 229.4

3 The K–Ar ages of two volcanic rocks from the island of SantaMaria in the Azores aremeasured
as below.

Rock mass (g) K 2 O% Radiogenic 40 Ar (10 12 moles g 1)

1.81 1.83 13.90

0.64 0.92 5.60

Calculate their ages. Given that the error is 5%, what can you say about these two rocks?

4 To apply the 230 Th– 238 U method to carbonate rocks formed in the ocean, allowance must be
made for the fact that ( 234 U/ 238 U) 0 ¼ 1.15 in activity and that 230 Th derives entirely from 234 U decay.

(i) Draw up the complete 234 U/ 238 U dating equation. (ii) Draw up the 230 Th, 234 U, 238 U dating equation
assuming that ( 230 Th) 0 ¼ 0.

5 The isotopes 231 Pa and 230 Th are both insoluble and isolated while uranium isotopes remain in
solution.
(i) Draw up the dating equation based on the 231 Pa/ 230 Th ratio. (ii) What is the time-span
over which it can be applied?

3 Previously we used 210 ppm. Readers should be aware of variations in values used by different authors in such determinations.