Geochronometry
Geochronometry is the measurement of geological time to produce a numerical time-scale
(not `absolute', as there is always a margin of error). It applies geochronological methods,
especially radiometric dating. The geochronological scale is a periodic scale using the year
as a basic unit. Apparent ages obtained in geochronometry are referred to as radiometric or
isotope dates. For older rocks, multiple annual units are normally written in thousands of
years (ka) or million years (ma); Holocene and Pleistocene dates are normally quoted in
years before 1950 (years BP (before present)) or more recently have been quoted as b2k
(i.e. before the year 2000). Note that although the duration of an interval is normally
expressed differently from its age, there is no international ‘standard’: we
recommend ky and [Link] terms of geological time (eon, era, period, epoch and age) may
be used for geochronometrical units when such terms are formalised
(cf. chronostratigraphy).
Decay schemes that can be used for geochronology have to fulfil several criteria; they have
to have an isotope with a long enough half life to be useful over the period of geological time
and the half life has to be known accurately. In addition, the element has to exist in sufficient
quantity in the rocks and minerals under study to be extracted and analysed. There are now
many different isotope decay schemes in use for geochronological purposes and, because
of varying chemical and mineral stability during geological events, complex geological
histories can be deduced by targeting problems with a suitable geochronometer. It is
important to know what event or process is under scrutiny and then to choose an appropriate
geochronological tool. Good descriptions of techniques and their applications relavant to
Quaternary problems can be found in Walker (2005)
The two techniques most commonly used by Quaternary stratigraphers are radio carbon
dating (14C), which is applied to any materials containing sufficient organic carbon, and 40Ar-
39
Ar of potassium-bearing minerals, because both these methods can provide high precision
ages.
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring
radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 50
ka. Uncalibrated radiocarbon ages are usually reported in 14C years before present (BP), i.e.
1950. Such ages can be calibrated to give calendar dates. When plants fix atmospheric
carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic material during photosynthesis they incorporate a quantity
of 14C that approximately matches the level of this isotope in the atmosphere (a small
difference occurs because of isotope fractionation, but this is corrected after laboratory
analysis. After plants die or they are consumed by other organisms the 14C fraction of this
organic material declines at a fixed exponential rate due to the radioactive decay of 14C.
Comparing the remaining 14C fraction of a sample to that expected from atmospheric 14C
allows the age of the sample to be estimated.
The 40Ar-39Ar method is based on the decay of potassium to the inert gas argon which
becomes physically trapped in the crystal lattice on formation. A reliable age is dependent
upon the argon being held in place in substantial parts of the crystal. The commonly used
step heating method, which involves progressive degassing of the samples up to melting
point and analysis of the argon from each step, provides a way of looking at argon loss from
different parts of the lattice and enables well-preserved parts of the crystal yielding
crystallization ages to be distinguished from those which have suffered argon loss.
U- and Th-series offer a group of isotopes that constitute magnifying 'lenses' into recent
temporal dimensions of Earth System processes. Whereas mass spectrometry (MS)
measurements of 238U-234U-230Th and 235U-231Pa disequilibria give access to time ranges
varying between about a million of years to hundreds of thousand years, MS or counting
methods of shorter-lived daughter isotopes
Luminescence dating is a method of determining how long ago minerals were last exposed
to daylight. It is increasingly widely used by Quaternary geologists and archaeologists to
date events. The most commonly used technique is optically stimulated luminescence
dating (OSL dating). All sediments and soils contain trace amounts of radioactive isotopes
including uranium, thorium, rubidium and potassium. These slowly decay over time and the
ionizing radiation they produce is absorbed by other constituents of the soil sediments such
as quartz and feldspar. The resulting radiation damage within these minerals remains as
structurally unstable electron traps within the mineral grains. Stimulating samples using
either blue, green or infrared light causes a luminescence signal to be emitted as the stored
unstable electron energy is released, the intensity of which varies depending on the amount
of radiation absorbed during burial. The radiation damage accumulates at a rate over time
determined by the amount of radioactive elements in the sample. Exposure to sunlight resets
the luminescence signal and so the time period since the soil was buried can be calculated.
Cosmogenic radionuclide dating. The Earth is constantly bombarded by primary cosmic
rays, high-energy protons and alpha particles. These particles interact with atoms in
atmospheric gases, producing a cascade of secondary particles that may interact and
reduce their energies in many reactions as they pass through the atmosphere. By the time
the cosmic ray cascade reaches the Earth's surface it is primarily composed of neutrons.
When one of these particles strikes an atom it can dislodge one or more protons and/or
neutrons from that atom, producing a different element or a different isotope of the original
element. In rock and other materials of similar density, most of the cosmic ray flux is
absorbed within the first metre of exposed material in reactions that produce new isotopes
called cosmogenic nuclides. Using certain cosmogenic radionuclides, it is possible to date
how long a particular surface has been exposed, how long a certain piece of material has
been buried, or how rapidly a location or drainage basin is eroding. The basic principle is
that these radionuclides are produced at a known rate, and also decay at a known rate.
Accordingly, by measuring the concentration of these cosmogenic nuclides in a rock sample,
and accounting for the flux of the cosmic rays and the half-life of the nuclide, it is possible to
estimate how long the sample has been exposed to the cosmic rays. Rates of nuclide
production must be estimated in order to date a rock sample. The excess relative to natural
abundance of cosmogenic nuclides in a rock sample is usually measured by means of
accelerator mass spectrometry. The two most frequently measured cosmogenic nuclides
are 10Be and 26Al. The parent isotopes are the most abundant of these elements, and are
common in crustal material, whereas the radioactive daughter nuclei are not commonly
produced by other processes. .
Amino-acid geochronometry is a technique used to estimate the relative age of a fossil
specimen. This technique relates changes in amino-acid molecules to the time elapsed since
they were formed. All biological tissues contain amino-acids. All amino-acids except glycine
(the simplest) are optically active, having an asymmetric carbon atom. This results in the
amino-acid can have two different configurations, 'D' (dextrorotary) or 'L' (laevorotary) which
are mirror images of each other. With a few important exceptions, living organisms keep all
their amino-acids in the "L" configuration. When an organism dies, control over the
configuration of the amino-acids ceases, and the ratio of D to L moves from a value near
zero towards an equilibrium value near 1, a process called racemisation. Thus, measuring
the ratio of D to L in a sample enables one to estimate how long ago the specimen died.