Date of Award

1958

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Geology

Abstract

The unstable radioactive isotope K40 decays to the stable radiogenic isotopes A40 and Ca40. The rate of decay is a constant ratio, called the branching ratio, and is used to determine the age of a mineral. Because potassium exists almost everywhere this gives us a valuable method for dating rocks. The developments, improvements, procedures, suitable minerals and accuracy of the K-A dating method, are analyzed in this paper.

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