Determination of K-Ar ages in milligram samples using an infrared laser for argon extraction

The K-Ar dating method has been used for decades to decipher the ages of terrestrial and extraterrestrial minerals and rocks. The natural radioactive decay of a metal to a rare gas is an advantage that allows the determination of very small amounts of argon by mass spectrometry. Although the Ar-Ar method has superseded K-Ar, the latter is still used and it has room for improvement. One of these is the reduction of the analyzed sample mass, a desideratum of any current analytical technique. I report here our experience in K-Ar geochronology of milligram-sized samples using laser heating and melting for gas extraction. This modification of the classical K-Ar technique has not been, to my knowledge, used in any other laboratory in the world and deserves a detailed description of its advantages and limitations.