Radiometric Dating of Igneous Rocks

by Robert McDaniel

 

Submitted : Spring 2014

Potassium is one of Earth’s most abundant minerals which constitutes about 2.1% of its crust. It is commonly found in igneous rocks and the isotope ⁴⁰K can be used to date the rocks from the time that they solidified. The goal of this project was to examine the use of radiometric dating, particularly Potassium-Argon dating, in the field of geology and to calculate the age of a sample of igneous rock (Potassium Feldspar) given the amount of ⁴⁰K and ⁴⁰Ar isotopes found within the sample. Using the ratio of ⁴⁰K and ⁴⁰Ar found within the sample, a relatively simple exponential formula was implemented to date the absolute age of the rock. The sample of K-spar was found to be a specimen dating back to the early Cretaceous period.

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