Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Separation of Uranium and Thorium for 230Th-U Dating of Submarine Hydrothermal Sulfides
Published on: May 20, 2019
Rubidium-strontium chronology and chemistry of lunar material
Abstract:
Igneous lunar rocks divide into two chemical types, probably representing two rock units. They form separate close groups on the isochron diagram; no total rock age is valid unless the rocks are cogenetic. Mineral isochrons prove that one type has an age of 3.80 +/-0.11 billion years, equal to the line joining total-rock groups, and the initial ratio of strontium-87 to strontium-86 of both types is close to 0.6994. Soil and breccias chemically resemble a mixture of the two igneous types, with a superimposed variation of mineral components, plus a small transferred component rich in nickel, copper, zinc, and possibly stron-tium-87.
Related Concept Videos
Radioactive Decay and Radiometric Dating
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
The Periodic Table
Elements: Chemical Symbols and Isotopes
Some symbols are derived from the common English name of the element; others are abbreviations of the name in another language — Latin, Greek or German. For example, the symbol for aluminum (common name)...
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth

