Overview
The potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating method is probably the most widely used technique for determining the absolute ages of crustal geologic events and processes. It is used to determine the ages of formation and thermal histories of potassium-bearing rocks and minerals of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary origin, as well as extraterrestrial meteorites and lunar rocks. The K-Ar method is among the oldest of the geochronological methods; it successfully produces reliable absolute ages of geologic materials. It has been developed and refined for over 50 years.
The K-Ar method is based upon the relative amounts of atoms of the radioactive parent, 40K, and radiogenic daughter, 40Ar∗, that has accumulated over time. In the conventional technique, which is described in this article, K and Ar concentrations are measured separately. In the 40Ar/39Ar variant (see 40Argon/39Argon dating method), argon ratios are measured with 39Ar produced during neutron irradiation serving as a...
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Bibliography
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Foland, K.A. (1998). Potassium-argon dating method . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_259
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