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U-Th-Pb
Chapter 3
U-Th-Pb
Three radionuclides decaying to 3 isotopes of Pb at different rates:
232Th decays to 208Pb with a half-life of 14 Ga.
238U decays to 206Pb with a half-life of 4.47 Ga.
235U decays to 207Pb with a half-life of 707 Ma.
The remaining isotope, 204Pb, is used for normalization.
40
K)
The combination of somewhat large size and high charge makes them highly
incompatible.
Th slightly more incompatible than U.
Both Th and U are refractory, insoluble, and immobile, with the exception of U 6+
(favored at the Earths surface), which forms the UO 42- oxyanion, which is quite
soluble and mobile.
235
U/
238
Since
Bear in mind that the ratio of 1/137.82 is the ratio today: it changes
continually with time as
235
Typo in book
Pb-Pb Dating
We can write two decay equations:
Pb*
235
206
Pb*
238
Pb*
206
Pb*
Assuming
235
U (e235t 1)
207
U (e238t 1)
U (e235t 1)
238
U (e238t 1)
235
U/238U is constant:
Pb*
(e235t 1)
206
Pb* 137.82(e238t 1)
207
Ratio of radiogenic
Pb-Pb Isochrons
Jargon: geochronologists long ago named the
U/204Pb ratio .
238
For the
238
235
207
Suppose we plot
207
(e235t 1)
137.82
Pb/204Pb vs.
206
Pb-Pb Isochrons
On a plot of
Pb/204Pb vs.
206Pb/204Pb, the slope is
proportional to time and
is therefore an isochron.
207
Our
equation:(e
207 Pb/ 204 Pb
206
Pb/
204
235t
1)
Pb 137.82(e238t 1)
Figure 3.1
Total Pb Isochrons
The U-Pb system achieves its greatest power when we use the
238
U-206Pb,
235
U-207Pb, and
207
U/206Pb
against 207Pb/206Pb - the Tera-Wasserburg diagram. Purely
radiogenic Pb will have unique 207Pb*/206Pb* and 238U/206Pb*
ratios at any given time and hence define a concordia curve
on such a diagram:
Pb* (e235t 1)( 238U / 206 Pb*)
206
137.82
Pb*
238
207
Error in
book
Tera-Wasserburg Diagram
Concordant data
containing variable
amounts of
common (i.e.,
initial) Pb will define
a lines with slope:
d(207 Pb/ 206 Pb)
U 235t
(e 1)
238
U
235
207
206
Pb
(e238t 1)
Pb
i
Figure 3.2
Th/U ratios
We can, of course calculate ages using the
conventional isochron method based on
232Th/208Pb ratios.
232
Zircon Dating
Figure 3.3
Zircon Dating
Zircon (ZrSiO4) readily accepts U4+ in the Zr4+ site but
excludes Pb. To a first approximation, there will be no initial
or common Pb making it a very attractive target for
dating.
Concordia Diagram
A concordia diagram is a plot of
Pb*/238U vs. 207Pb*/235U, i.e., the
ratios of the number of atoms of
radiogenic daughter produced to the
number of atoms of radioactive
parent. These207are
to
Pb*proportional
t
(e
1)
time, e.g.:
235
206
235
235
207
U
Pb age.
238
Imagine a zircon
formed at 3.0 Ga. At
the time of formation,
it would plot at the
origin and the diagram
would look like this.
Suppose, however, it
is now heated to the
point where Pb can
diffuse out and is lost
completely. How
would our point it
move on the diagram?
Concordia Curves
U Loss
U gain essentially mimics
Pb loss in moving the
point toward the origin.
Continuous Pb loss or Pb
gain (latter is particularly
unlikely) do not take
predictable paths and
destroy age information.
Step-wise Dissolution
Figure 3.18
Step-wise dissolution
Figure 3.9
In situ Analysis
Figure 3.10
Figure 3.11
Radioactive Equilibrium
The abundance of a nuclide that is both radioactive
and radiogenic (e.g., 230Th) will vary with time
according to:
dN
D
dt
P NP D ND
Thought Experiment
Imagine a hopper with a
spring-loaded door into
which marbles fall.
Non-equilibrium
When a system is perturbed and forced out of radioactive
equilibrium, it will return to the equilibrium state at a rate that
depends of the initial abundance of parent and daughter and
the two decay constants (assuming a closed system).
P
NPo e Pt e Dt NDoe Dt
D P
Activity
Because traditionally decay-series isotopes were
measured by measuring their radioactive decay
(counters of sorts), and many still are, we use activity
(decays per unit time) in place of abundance. Also
turns out this makes the math easier in many cases.
234
238
U dating
238
U.
234
The unsupported
238
234
U dating
and
Total (234U) is:
234
238
238
U activity, we have:
U
( 238 ) 1
U
234
U dating
o
t
U
1
e 234
238
U
234
U/238U
ratio. The application of 234U/238U has been largely restricted to
corals where we can assume the initial ratio is that of seawater.
It is not generally useful for freshwater carbonates because of
uncertainty in the initial activity ratio.
234
Th-
230
The
U Dating
238
Disequilibrium between
We start with:
230
230
Th 230t
e
232
Th
u
230
230
Th/232Th ratio
Th Dating an Mn Nodule
230
Consider an Mn nodule
growing outward and excess
230Th decaying inward. We
assume the nodule grows at a
constant rate such that
z = st.
Th
232Th
230
Th 230 z/s
e
232
Th
230
U
1 e 230 z/s
Th
238
232
Figure 3.12
230
( 230 234 )t
1 ( 234U / 238U) 1 e
Modern humans or
Neanderthals?
Published by AAAS
Fig. 5 The Panel de las Manos, El Castillo Cave, showing the location of samples O-82
overlaying a negative hand stencil, and O-83 overlaying a large red stippled disk.
Published by AAAS
Th
232Th
230
Th 230t
e
232
Th
230
U
1 e 230t
232
Th
238
The tricks to this derivation are to make the approximations 230 238 =
230 and e-238t = 1; i.e., assume 238 0; this is the mathematical
equivalent of assuming the activity of 238U does not change with time.
Th.
230
Th
230
Th-U Dating
Th
232Th
230
Th 230t
e
232
Th
230
U
1 e 230t
232
Th
238
Tharound
U the
230
point where
232
Th
238
232
Th
Th
232
t
Th
230
U
Th
238
232
Figure 3.13
Th-U Example
This is 230Th238U mineral isochron obtained on a
peralkaline lava from the African Rift Valley in Kenya
(Black et al., 1997) yields an age of 36,2002600 yrs.
Figure 3.14
Pa
231
U Dating
235
U, but the
intervening nuclide 231Th has a sufficiently short half-life that
we can always ignore it. Pa is typically in the 5+ valance
state with ionic radii of 92 pm and partitions readily into the
same igneous and metamorphic accessory minerals that
concentrate U and Th, but like Th, it is excluded from
carbonates. like Th and unlike U, Pa is generally immobile.
231
Pa-235U dating as to
Pa
231
235t
231t
235 U
231 235
231
Pa
1 e 231t
235 U
231
Pa 231t
e
235
U
231
Pa 231t
e
235
U
231
235
Pa
231
Advantages
Disadvantages
No long-lived
intermediate comparable
to 234U
238
231
U is less
than a sixth of that of
238
U and thus it decays
more rapidly
231
the half-life of
U Dating
235
231
235
Pa is less abundant
than 230Th
Pa decay constant is
less well known than that
of 234U or 230Th
useful over a smaller
range of time.
The value of the 231Pa-235U system, like that of the 207Pb235U one
comes in using it in combination with the 238U decay
Pa*/ U Th*/
Concordia
231
235
230
234
Figure 3.15
Ra dating
226
226Ra t1/2 = 1600 yrs
No long-lived daughter isotope to
226Ra/Ba230Th/Ba diagram is an
isochron diagram analogous to the
230Th/232Th238U/232Th one
Figure shows
Figure 3.16
Pb Dating
210
t1/2 22 yrs.
226
210
Pb in
Compaction
For detrital sedimentation (as opposed to an Mn
nodule), we need to consider compaction.
Models of
210
Pb accumulation
210
Pb Dating
210
1 (210 Pb)0
ti ln 210
( Pb)i
1 A(0)
ti ln
A(i )
and
210
mi
r
Changes at 1930
and 1972 due to
land use and
demographic
changes and
channelization
0.66 g/cm2-yr
0.22 g/cm2-yr
0.1 g/cm2-yr
Figure 3.17
210
210Pb decays (via
210
Po Dating
Bi) to
210
Po; t1/2
= 138 days
210
210
Po
Pb
210 t
1 e
Po
210
210
Po
Pb
210 t
Po
Figure 3.18