Pb pb dating method
To see how we actually use this information to date rocks, consider the following: Usually, we know the amount, N, of an isotope present today, and the amount of a daughter element produced by decay, D*.
By definition, D* = N-1) (2) Now we can calculate the age if we know the number of daughter atoms produced by decay, D* and the number of parent atoms now present, N.
Since both decay series contain a unique set of intermediate radioactive isotopes, and because each has its own half-life, independent age calculations can be made from each (Dalrymple 20).
The presence of a stable lead isotope that is not the product of any decay series (204Pb) allows lead isotopes to be normalized, allowing for the use of isochrons and concordia-discordia diagrams as dating tools.
The open system behaviour of the U-Th-Pb system is clearly the norm, as is the resultant mixing of radiogenic Pb with ‘common’ or background Pb, even in soils in the surrounding region, apparently even up to 17 km away!
Because no geologically meaningful results can be interpreted from the U-Th-Pb data at Koongarra (three uraninite grains even yield a Pb ‘age’ of 0 Ma), serious questions must be asked about the validity of the fundamental/foundational basis of the U-Th-Pb ‘dating’ method.
by Andrew Snelling As with other radiometric ‘dating’ methods, the U-Pb and Pb-Pb isochron methods have been questioned in the open literature, because often an excellent line of best fit between ratios obtained from a set of good cogenetic samples gives a resultant ‘isochron’ and yields a derived ‘age’ that has no geological meaning.
Community Discussion