Age Date Samples:  

 Age date samples are used to determine the age of the rocks. 
There are several methods, including 40Ar/39Ar, U/Pb, K/Ar, Rb/Sr, and Carbon 14. They are all based on
the half life theory, which states that certain isotopes of certain elements decay to radioactive daughter
products at a specific rate, called a decay constant.  Knowing the constant, the amount of parent and
daughter product material in the sample is measured and then used to calculate the age of the rock. The
40Ar/39Ar method can provide reliable age dates up to several hundred million years.  Argon gas forms
by decay of potassium and gets locked in the crystal lattice. The U/Pb method is also quite reliable, and
can be used to date rocks up to billions of years old.  Older rocks have longer histories, and during those
longer histories more events can occur which cause problems.  For example, metamorphism and tectonic
activity.  These can cause opening of the crystal lattice of the mineral being dated, and loss of the
daughter product material, causing erroneous results.  Typically these effects cause the methods to yield
ages which appear to be younger than the actual age of the rock.  Minerals can also obtain overgrowths
during remelting events, causing excess parent material to be present, also making the rock appear
younger.  Ar-Ar and U-Pb age dates can be obtained can be obtained from very small amounts of
material.  The procedure involves separating the grains of one mineral type to be dated.  Ar-Ar age dates
are usually obtained on minerals such as mica or hornblende.  U-Pb age dates are usually obtained on
zircon or other accessory minerals which are known to contain small amounts of uranium.