uranium–lead dating

As each dating method was developed, tested, and improved, mainly since 1950, a vast body of knowledge about the behaviour of different isotopic systems under different geologic conditions has evolved. It is now clear that with recent advances the uranium–lead method is superior…

In uranium-lead dating, minerals virtually free of initial lead can be isolated and corrections made for the trivial amounts present. In whole-rock isochron methods that make use of the rubidium-strontium or samarium-neodymium decay schemes, a series of rocks or minerals are chosen that can be assumed…

In uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of zircon, the zircon is found to exclude initial lead almost completely. Minerals too are predictable chemical compounds that can be shown to form at specific temperatures and remain closed up to certain temperatures if a rock has been reheated or altered.…