Radiometric dating

The disintegration reaction can be summarized as follows: a parent element (uranium in the
above example) is gradually transformed into an offshoot (rejeton) element (here lead).
This disintegration takes some time to be done; it is this time parameter that interests us.

Here, time is the total time for all the parent element to be transformed into an offshoot (rejeton)
element. We can thus illustrate the progression of the disintegration:

After a time 1 (t1), a part of the original quantity of parent element (P) has been transformed into
a quantity R1 of the offshoot (rejeton) element; only a quantity P1 of the parent element will
remain. Which can be expressed by the ratio R1 on P1. After a time 2 (t2), we will get a ratio R2
on P2, larger than the previous one, ... and so on.

The value of the ratio R on P is therefore a function of the disintegration time. The decay rate is
different from one type of disintegration to another, but still the same for a given decay. As the
decay constants for the various reactions commonly used are well known, it is possible to
calculate the decay time for a given value of the ratio R on P, using these constants.

What is calculated is the time that disintegration took to reach this proportion between offshoot
(rejeton) and parent. This is a very important point with regard to radiometric dating: what is
determined is how long the disintegration has taken place or, if you prefer, how long the
disintegration has started.

In practice, it involves the use of minerals that contain radioactive elements, such as zircon, a
zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4). In this mineral, a certain amount of zirconium can be replaced by
uranium, which makes the mineral useful for dating.
At the moment when the mineral crystallizes, it incorporates a certain amount of uranium, but
not lead. Uranium will begin, at that moment, to disintegrate radioactively. By determining the
ratio of lead to uranium (ZrSiO4/parent) by mass spectrometry analysis in a given zircon, which
zircon is for example in a granite, it is possible to calculate how long zircon has crystallized.

As it has crystallized at the same time as the granite which contains it, it is in this sense that the
age of the granite is obtained. That is to say, the moment of his formation. This is why we speak
of radiometric age, that is to say, an age obtained by measuring the products of radioactivity.

- 64 -
The disintegration reaction of a given element is not constant: it is very fast at the beginning, and
its velocity decreases later, according to this general curve:

For convenience, we use a parameter that gives orders of magnitude: the half life of a radioactive
element.

Half life is the time it takes for half of the parent element to disintegrate. Be careful, it's not half
the life of the disintegration, but the time it takes for half of the parent element to disintegrate.
Here are some examples of half-life of some common elements:

The Carbon-14 method

Whenever it comes to dating rocks or other old materials, Carbon 14 (14C) is invoked. The 14C is
indeed a very useful method for the dating of certain geological materials, and particularly
archaeological materials.

The method uses the disintegration reaction of carbon-14 to nitrogen-14. It should be known that
the common carbon in nature has an atomic mass of 12 (12C). It combines with atmospheric
oxygen (O2) to form (CO2) in which the carbon has an atomic mass of 12, i.e. 12CO2. But in
addition to 12C, there is also, in a much smaller quantity, carbon-13 (13C) and carbon-14 (14C);
these three forms, of different atomic mass for the same element, are what are called isotopes.
12
C and 13C are stable isotopes, that is they are not radioactive, while 14C is a radioactive isotope
which is used for dating.
14 14
To fully understand the method, we need to see where the C comes from and how this C is
fixed, with 12C, by living organisms (plants and animals).

- 65 -
The bombardment of gases from the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays causes the nitrogen, with
atomic mass 14 (14N) to be transformed into 14C which combines with free oxygen (O2) to form
CO2, but a particular CO2 where the carbon is of atomic mass 14, that is 14CO2. This CO2 is
mixed with CO2 from other sources, such as volcanoes and the oxidation of organic matter or,
today, the combustion of hydrocarbons. The CO2 that comes from the photosynthesis cycle
consumes atmospheric CO2, that is to say a CO2 that partially contains 12C and partially contains
14
C. This means that the organic matter of plants and animals (which consumes the plants) will
contain a certain amount of 14C. It is this 14C that is used for dating. So at the beginning, any
living organic matter (plants or animals) contains 12C and 14C (and a small amount of 13C). The
proportion between 14C and 12C in organic tissues and skeleton metabolized by the organism
remains the same throughout the life of the organism, a ratio corresponding to that found in
atmospheric CO2. In practice, we can say that the clock starts with the death of the organism, the
proportion begins to change because of the disintegration of 14C and the fact that the 12C remains
stable. The product of disintegration of 14C, nitrogen 14, is a gas that escapes into nature. In
practice, since the 12C is stable, the ratio between 14C and 12C is measured. Knowing the
relationship that exists in nature between 14C and 12C, as well as the disintegration constant, we
can, as in the other methods, calculate the time that has elapsed since the death of the organism
that fixed the carbon in its tissues or its skeleton. Therefore, the age that is obtained with the 14C
method is the age of death of the organism (wood, shells, peat, linen, cotton, wool, etc.).

But doesn’t the 14C/12C proportion vary through geological times? In the 14C dating method, it is
assumed that the proportion 14C/12C has not changed with geological time, which is not true.
Indeed, we know today that this proportion has varied over time. It is known for example by
comparing the age obtained from 14C and the age obtained by counting the tree rings
(dendrochronology) or the varves (seasonal deposits) in the lakes. It is known that 14C production
has generally been higher in the past, implying that the uncorrected ages are actually younger
than they actually should be. This is why, we must make corrections. Thus, for the period
between -20 and -40 Ka, a correction of the order of 10% is made (the ages are aged from 2 to 3
Ka); this percentage decreases for more recent ages.

The popular belief is that you can date anything with the 14C. It must be understood, and it is
very important, that this method applies only to materials that have already been alive, such as
wood, shells, linen, etc. No need to think of dating metal tools or chert arrowheads (SiO2) with
this method. There is another very important limitation to the method: the time involved. With
the methods of uranium-lead, rubidium strontium or even potassium argon, the half-life is
expressed in billions of years. With the 14C, we speak of a half-life of 5730 years. The following
diagram shows the implication of such short half-life.

- 66 -
At time 0, we have 100% of 14C. After 5730 years (the half-life of the disintegration), half of the
14
C is disintegrated. After another 5730 years (11,460 years in total). Half of the half is
disintegrated; it remains a quarter of the original 14C. After another 5730 years, there remains
1/8, ... and so on. After 74,490 years, there remains 1/8192 (= 0.000122) of the original 14C. This
is little, especially since initially, the amount of 14C compared to 12C was already low. To
analyze such a small quantity becomes very difficult. In practice therefore, the 14C is useful for
dating objects that are not older than 75000 years old. We are not talking here in billions, nor
even in millions of years, but in a few tens of thousands of years only.

The 14C is a very useful method in archeology and history. It has been helpful in closing some
debates. The method is also used in geology superficial deposits, which are often younger than
the 75,000-year limit. Deposits in the Champlain Sea, for example, which are only 9000 to
12000 years old are dated using 14C, and using the shells and fossil wood of these deposits.

- 67 -