K–Ar dating

Potassium–argon dating, abbreviated K–

Ar dating, is a radiometric dating method
used in geochronology and archaeology. It
is based on measurement of the product
of the radioactive decay of an isotope of
potassium (K) into argon (Ar). Potassium
is a common element found in many
materials, such as micas, clay minerals,
tephra, and evaporites. In these materials,
40
the decay product Ar is able to escape
the liquid (molten) rock, but starts to
accumulate when the rock solidifies
(recrystallizes). The amount of argon
sublimation that occurs is a function of
the purity of the sample, the composition
of the mother material, and a number of
other factors. These factors introduce
error limits on the upper and lower bounds
of dating, so that final determination of
age is reliant on the environmental factors
during formation, melting, and exposure to
decreased pressure and/or open-air. Time
since recrystallization is calculated by
40
measuring the ratio of the amount of Ar
40
accumulated to the amount of K

40
 40
remaining. The long half-life of K allows
the method to be used to calculate the
absolute age of samples older than a few
thousand years.[1]

The quickly cooled lavas that make nearly

ideal samples for K–Ar dating also
preserve a record of the direction and
intensity of the local magnetic field as the
sample cooled past the Curie temperature
of iron. The geomagnetic polarity time
scale was calibrated largely using K–Ar
dating.[2]

Decay series
Potassium naturally occurs in 3 isotopes:
39 40 41
K (93.2581%), K (0.0117%), K
(6.7302%). Two are stable, while the
40
radioactive isotope K decays with a half-
40 40
life of 1.248 × 109 years to Ca and Ar.
40
Conversion to stable Ca occurs via
electron emission (beta decay) in 89.1% of
40
decay events. Conversion to stable Ar
occurs via electron capture in the
remaining 10.9% of decay events.[3]

Argon, being a noble gas, is a minor

component of most rock samples of
geochronological interest: it does not bind
with other atoms in a crystal lattice. When
40 40
K decays to Ar (argon), the atom
typically remains trapped within the lattice
because it is larger than the spaces
between the other atoms in a mineral
crystal. But it can escape into the
surrounding region when the right
conditions are met, such as change in
40
pressure and/or temperature. Ar atoms
are able to diffuse through and escape
from molten magma because most
crystals have melted and the atoms are no
longer trapped. 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
40 40
magma, more K will decay and Ar will
again accumulate, along with the
entrained argon atoms, trapped in the
mineral crystals. Measurement of the
40
quantity of Ar atoms is used to compute
the amount of time that has passed since
a rock sample has solidified.

40
Despite Ca being the favored daughter
nuclide, it is rarely useful in dating
because calcium is so common in the
40
crust, with Ca being the most abundant
isotope. Thus, the amount of calcium
originally present is not known and can
vary enough to confound measurements
of the small increases produced by
radioactive decay.
Formula
40 40
The ratio of the amount of Ar to that of
K is directly related to the time elapsed
since the rock was cool enough to trap the
Ar by the equation

where

t is time elapsed
40
t1/2 is the half-life of K
40
Kf is the amount of K remaining in the
sample
40
 40
Arf is the amount of Ar found in the
sample.

The scale factor 0.109 corrects for the

40
unmeasured fraction of K which
40
decayed into Ca; the sum of the
40
measured K and the scaled amount of
40 40
Ar gives the amount of K which was
present at the beginning of the elapsed
time period. In practice, each of these
values may be expressed as a proportion
of the total potassium present, as only
relative, not absolute, quantities are
required.

Obtaining the data

To obtain the content ratio of isotopes
40 40
Ar to K in a rock or mineral, the
amount of Ar is measured by mass
spectrometry of the gases released when
a rock sample is melted in vacuum. The
potassium is quantified by flame
photometry or atomic absorption
spectroscopy.

40
The amount of K is rarely measured
39
directly. Rather, the more common K is
measured and that quantity is then
40 39
multiplied by the accepted ratio of K/ K
(i.e., 0.0117%/93.2581%, see above).

40
 40
The amount of Ar is also measured to
assess how much of the total argon is
atmospheric in origin.

Assumptions
According to McDougall & Harrison (1999,
p. 11) the following assumptions must be
true for computed dates to be accepted as
representing the true age of the rock:[4]

40
The parent nuclide, K, decays at a rate
independent of its physical state and is
not affected by differences in pressure
or temperature. This is a well founded
major assumption, common to all dating
methods based on radioactive decay.
Although changes in the electron
40
capture partial decay constant for K
possibly may occur at high pressures,
theoretical calculations indicate that for
pressures experienced within a body the
size of the Earth the effects are
negligibly small.[1]
40 39
The K/ K ratio in nature is constant
40
so the K is rarely measured directly,
but is assumed to be 0.0117% of the
total potassium. Unless some other
process is active at the time of cooling,
this is a very good assumption for
terrestrial samples.[5]
The radiogenic argon measured in a
sample was produced by in situ decay
40
of K in the interval since the rock
crystallized or was recrystallized.
Violations of this assumption are not
uncommon. Well-known examples of
40
incorporation of extraneous Ar include
chilled glassy deep-sea basalts that
have not completely outgassed
40
preexisting Ar*,[6] and the physical
contamination of a magma by inclusion
of older xenolitic material. The Ar–Ar
dating method was developed to
measure the presence of extraneous
argon.
Great care is needed to avoid
contamination of samples by absorption
40
of nonradiogenic Ar from the
atmosphere. The equation may be
corrected by subtracting from the
40
Armeasured value the amount present in
40
the air where Ar is 295.5 times more
36 40
plentiful than Ar. Ardecayed =
40 36
Armeasured − 295.5 × Armeasured.
The sample must have remained a
closed system since the event being
dated. Thus, there should have been no
40 40
loss or gain of K or Ar*, other than
40
by radioactive decay of K. Departures
from this assumption are quite
 common, particularly in areas of
complex geological history, but such
departures can provide useful
information that is of value in
elucidating thermal histories. A
40
deficiency of Ar in a sample of a
known age can indicate a full or partial
melt in the thermal history of the area.
Reliability in the dating of a geological
feature is increased by sampling
disparate areas which have been
subjected to slightly different thermal
histories.[7]

Both flame photometry and mass

spectrometry are destructive tests, so
particular care is needed to ensure that
the aliquots used are truly representative
of the sample. Ar–Ar dating is a similar
technique which compares isotopic ratios
from the same portion of the sample to
avoid this problem.

Applications
Due to the long half-life, the technique is
most applicable for dating minerals and
rocks more than 100,000 years old. For
shorter timescales, it is unlikely that
40
enough Ar will have had time to
accumulate in order to be accurately
measurable. K–Ar dating was instrumental
in the development of the geomagnetic
polarity time scale.[2] Although it finds the
most utility in geological applications, it
plays an important role in archaeology.
One archeological application has been in
bracketing the age of archeological
deposits at Olduvai Gorge by dating lava
flows above and below the deposits.[8] It
has also been indispensable in other early
east African sites with a history of
volcanic activity such as Hadar, Ethiopia.[8]
The K–Ar method continues to have utility
in dating clay mineral diagenesis.[9] Clay
minerals are less than 2 μm thick and
cannot easily be irradiated for Ar–Ar
analysis because Ar recoils from the
crystal lattice.

In 2013 the K–Ar method was used by the

Mars Curiosity rover to date a rock on the
Martian surface, the first time a rock has
been dated from its mineral ingredients
while situated on another planet.[10][11]

Notes
1. McDougall & Harrison 1999, p. 10
2. McDougall & Harrison 1999, p. 9
3. "ENSDF Decay Data in the MIRD Format
40
for Ar" . National Nuclear Data Center.
June 1993. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
4. McDougall & Harrison 1999, p. 11: "As
with all isotopic dating methods, there are a
number of assumptions that must be
fulfilled for a K–Ar age to relate to events in
the geological history of the region being
studied."
5. McDougall & Harrison 1999, p. 14
40
6. Ar* means radiogenic argon
7. McDougall & Harrison 1999, pp. 9–12
8. Tattersall 1995
9. Aronson & Lee 1986
10. NASA Curiosity: First Mars Age
Measurement and Human Exploration
Help , Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2013-12-
09
11. Martian rock-dating technique could
point to signs of life in space , University of
Queensland, 2013-12-13

References
McDougall, I.; Harrison, T. M. (1999).
Geochronology and thermochronology by
the 40Ar/39Ar method. Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0-19-510920-1.
Tattersall, I. (1995). The Fossil Trail: How
We Know What We Think We Know About
Human Evolution. Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0-19-506101-2.

Further reading
The Wikibook Historical Geology has a
page on the topic of: K-Ar dating

"K/Ar and 40K/39K methodology" . New

Mexico Geochronology Research
Laboratory. Archived from the original
on 2006-04-17.
Michaels, G. H.; Fagan, B. M. (15
December 2005). "Chronological
Methods 9: Potassium–Argon Dating" .
University of California. Archived from
the original on 2010-08-10.
Aronson, J. L.; Lee, M. (1986). "K/Ar
systematics of bentonite and shale in a
contact metamorphic zone". Clays and
Clay Minerals. 34 (4): 483–487.
 Bibcode:1986CCM....34..483A .
doi:10.1346/CCMN.1986.0340415  .
Moran, T. J. (2009). "Teaching
Radioisotope Dating Using the Geology
of the Hawaiian Islands" (PDF). Journal
of Geoscience Education. 57 (2): 101–
105. Bibcode:2009JGeEd..57..101M .
doi:10.5408/1.3544237  .

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=K–
Ar_dating&oldid=849567408"

Last edited 10 days ago by CBM

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless
otherwise noted.