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potassium-argon dating
[ puh-tas-ee-uhm-ahr-gon ]
noun
, Geology.
- a method for estimating the age of a mineral or rock, based on measurement of the rate of decay of radioactive potassium into argon.
potassium-argon dating
noun
- a technique for determining the age of minerals based on the occurrence in natural potassium of a small fixed amount of radioisotope 40K that decays to the stable argon isotope 40Ar with a half-life of 1.28 × 10 9years. Measurement of the ratio of these isotopes thus gives the age of the mineral Compare radiocarbon dating rubidium-strontium dating
potassium-argon dating
- A method of radiometric dating , involving analysis of the ratio of potassium 40 (a radioactive isotope of potassium) to argon (the product of radioactive decay of potassium 40) in a given sample.
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Word History and Origins
Origin of potassium-argon dating1
First recorded in 1965–70
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