How are rocks dated through radiometric dating when all of the matter that Earth is made of is of the same age and should decay at the same rate despite the the time it was deposited at the surface of the Earth, it shouldn’t matter if a volcanic rock was deposited a billion years ago or a thousand years ago if the rate of radioactive decay is the same ?
In: Geology
A common dating method for igneous rocks is K-Ar dating (Potassium-Argon.)
Radioactive potassium breaks down into argon. When the rock is molten, the argon boils away. When the rock cools down and solidifies, the argon gets trapped in the rock.
Measuring the proportion of argon in the rock, relative to the proportion of potassium, tells us how long ago the rock solidified.
Latest Answers