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A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System

A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System. Dating early Solar System events by the Pb-Pb method can resolve absolute age differences of ~1 My The technique traditionally assumes that 238 U/ 235 U is uniform in Solar System materials for any given time

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A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System

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  1. A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System Dating early Solar System events by the Pb-Pb method can resolve absolute age differences of ~1 My The technique traditionally assumes that 238U/235U is uniform in Solar System materials for any given time Recent results indicate that this is not always the case http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Jan10/Curium-247.html

  2. A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System The excess 235U is likely caused by the decay of 247Cm, an extinct isotope (half life of 15.7 My) Th and Nd behave geo- chemically like Cm, so are surrogates of it: The more Th and Nd, the more Cm The correlation of 235U/238U with Th/U and Nd/U suggests the presence of 247Cm http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Jan10/Curium-247.html

  3. A Complication in Determining the Precise Age of the Solar System Incorrect assumption about 238U/235U could cause an error in the age of ancient materials of up to 5 million years. Solution: Always measure both U and Pb isotopes. (From Brennecka, G. A., et al., 2010, Science, v. 327(5964), p. 449-451.) http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Jan10/Curium-247.html

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