Potassium Argon Dating Research Paper

Potassium Argon Dating

Potassium-Argon dating is a form of radiometric dating which tells us the absolute age of rocks. Practically all elements are radioactive to some extent, some more than others. Moreover, different isotopes of elements are more radioactive than others. Isotopes are forms of a particular atom that varies in the number of neutrons in the nucleus. For instance, K-40 is a naturally occurring isotope of Potassium is far more radioactive than its siblings K-39 and K-41 because K-40 is much less stable.

K-40 has a half-life of approximately 1.35 billion years and is found in essentially everything on Earth. K-40 can undergo beta decay and can transform to two different atoms: Calcium-40 and Argon-40. Approximately 10.72% of beta decay is K-40 transforming to Ar-40 via electron capture. Electron capture occurs when a proton-saturated atom absorbs an electron from the inner shell and thus transforming a positively charged particle (proton) into a neutral particle (neutron).

Since lava is liquid, any argon-40 gas previously trapped in lava will be able to escape as gas is less dense than liquid. When there is no argon gas in the lava, it is known as the zero point (zero argon trapped in lava). As soon as the lava solidifies, there are no outlets for argon-40 gas to
The Paleomagnetic Time Scale is simply a recording of the different position of poles historically. It was initially created by measuring the magnetic inclination of different areas with seafloor spreading. The lava from seafloor spreading settles and a collection of the magnetic inclination from different locations helped us determine the age and pole locations at the time (see figure