ALL meanings of potassium-argon dating
po·tas·si·um-ar·gon dat·ing
P p - noun potassium-argon dating a method for estimating the age of a mineral or rock, based on measurement of the rate of decay of radioactive potassium into argon. 1
- noun potassium-argon dating a technique for determining the age of minerals based on the occurrence in natural potassium of a small fixed amount of radioisotope 40K that decays to the stable argon isotope 40Ar with a half-life of 1.28 × 109 years. Measurement of the ratio of these isotopes thus gives the age of the mineral 0
- noun potassium-argon dating an indirect method of dating fossils, esp. those in very ancient volcanic rock, by using potassic minerals in the same strata as a reference: a natural radioactive isotope of potassium, K-40, decays steadily into argon, which accumulates in the minerals and is measured to determine age 0