Dating - Dating methods chart - How it works

8 important questions on Dating - Dating methods chart - How it works

Annual cycles (how it works)

Variation on basis of yearly seasonal processes

Varve chronology (how it works)

Yearly erosion and sedimentation depending on yearly conditions

Ice layer counting (how it works)

  • Growth of firn basin depending on yearly processes
    • Firn = combination of snow/ice, especially on the upper part of a glacier
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Milankovitch cycles (how it works)

  • Insulation (isolatie) variation on earth due to varying orbital parameters
  • Forcing of ice sheets

Cosmogenic nuclides (how it works)

  • Nuclides formed by cosmic radiation in the atmosphere or on the surface of the planet
  • Unstable
  • Decay fast to a more stable daughter

U-Th / U-series (how it works)

  • Radioactive uranium-234 is water-soluble and can be deposited in any mineral formed from any form of water
  • Decays overtime to various daughter isotopes, which are not water-soluble and therefore stay in the mineral
  • The uranium/daughter product ratio is then used to measure the time since the uranium was first deposited

K-Ar and Argon-Argon (how it works)

  • Radioactive/unstable K (or induced Ar) occurs in certain minerals
  • Decays over time to the more stable isotope Ar
  • Decay shows a time-dependant relationship
    • Time is estamated through measuring the parent/daughter ratio within the minerals studied

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (how it works)

  • Decay of unstable elements causes a shift in electron position within a sample, resulting in a build-up energy that can be released by optical stimulation
  • The light irradiated by the sample upon this release (called relexation) is proportional to the build-up energy caused by the decay process, which is time dependant

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