The method is applicable to very old rocks because the transformation is extremely slow: the half-life, or time required for half the initial quantity of rubidium-87 to disappear, is approximately 50 billion years.
Is rubidium used to date rocks?
The rubidium-strontium dating method is a radiometric dating technique used by scientists to determine the age of rocks and minerals from the quantities they contain of specific isotopes of rubidium (87Rb) and strontium (87Sr, 86Sr). As a result, Rb is enriched in crustal rocks.
What is the age of each isotope in rubidium?
RADIOMETRIC TIME SCALEParent IsotopeStable Daughter ProductCurrently Accepted Half-Life ValuesThorium-232Lead-20814.0 billion yearsRubidium-87Strontium-8748.8 billion yearsPotassium-40Argon-401.25 billion yearsSamarium-147Neodymium-143106 billion years2 more rows•Jun 13, 2001
How do you calculate isochron date?
This equation has the form y = b + xm, which is that of a straight line on x–y coordinates. The slope m is equal to (eλt − 1), and the intercept is equal to (D/S)0. This term is called the initial ratio.
What type of rock is commonly dated with rubidium strontium dating?
simple igneous rocks Dating simple igneous rocks The rubidium–strontium pair is ideally suited for the isochron dating of igneous rocks. As a liquid rock cools, first one mineral and then another achieves saturation and precipitates, each extracting specific elements in the process.
What does 85Rb mean?
Rubidium Rubidium is a soft, silvery-white metal that has two common isotopes, ^85Rb and ^87Rb.
How are moon rocks dated?
Dating. Rocks from the Moon have been measured by radiometric dating techniques. They range in age from about 3.16 billion years old for the basaltic samples derived from the lunar maria, up to about 4.44 billion years old for rocks derived from the highlands.
Who discovered rubidium?
Gustav Kirchhoff Robert Bunsen Rubidium/Discoverers Rubidium is the second most reactive metal and is very soft, with a silvery-white lustre. Rubidium was discovered (1861) spectroscopically by German scientists Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff and named after the two prominent red lines of its spectrum.