Process / pipelineRadiometric
Uranium-Thorium Dating
Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating is a chronometric method that determines the age of carbonates, shells, bones, and coral by measuring the ratio of uranium isotopes to thorium-230. First applied by Harmon Craig in the 1950s, it exploits the natural radioactive decay chain of uranium. U-Th dating is particularly valuable for dating materials from 500 to 500,000 years old, filling a crucial chronological gap between radiocarbon and potassium-argon dating.
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Sources
- Edwards, R. L., Chen, J. H., & Wasserburg, G. J. (1987). U-238, U-234 and Th-230 in seawater. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 51(5), 1213-1225. DOI: 10.1016/0016-7037(87)90213-2 ↗
- Cheng, H., Edwards, R. L., Hoff, J., Gallup, C. D., Richards, D. A., & Asmerom, Y. (2000). The half-lives of uranium-234 and thorium-230. Chemical Geology, 169(1-2), 17-33. DOI: 10.1016/S0009-2541(99)00157-6 ↗
- Pike, A. W. G., Hedges, R. E. M., & van Calsteren, P. (2007). The radioactive decay of uranium-234. Quaternary Geochronology, 2(1-4), 118-124. DOI: 10.1016/j.quageo.2006.10.001 ↗