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Ar–Ar and K–Ar Dating

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Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

(Argon–argon): Ar–Ar, 40Ar–39Ar, 40Ar/39Ar, 39Ar–40Ar, 39Ar/40Ar, argon-40/argon-39; (Potassium–argon): K–Ar, 40K–40Ar, 40Ar–40K

Definition

Potassium–argon dating. An absolute dating method based on the natural radioactive decay of 40K to 40Ar used to determine the ages of rocks and minerals on geological time scales.

Argon–argon dating. A variant of the K–Ar dating method fundamentally based on the natural radioactive decay of 40K to 40Ar, but which uses an artificially generated isotope of argon (39Ar) (produced through the neutron irradiation of naturally occurring 39K) as a proxy for 40K.

K–Ar dating

The potassium–argon (K–Ar) geochronological method is one of the oldest absolute dating methods and is based upon the occurrence of a radioactive isotope of potassium (40K), which naturally decays to a stable daughter isotope of argon (radiogenic 40Ar, also known as 40Ar*). For this reason, the K–Ar method is one of the few radiometric dating techniques in which the parent (40...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Miller Hall, K7L 3N6, Kingston, ON, Canada

    James K. W. Lee

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University, 2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    James K. W. Lee

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  1. James K. W. Lee
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Correspondence to James K. W. Lee .

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  1. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    W. Jack Rink  & Jeroen W. Thompson  & 

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Lee, J.K.W. (2015). Ar–Ar and K–Ar Dating. In: Jack Rink, W., Thompson, J.W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6304-3_40

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