Advertisement

Advertisement

rubidium-strontium dating

[ roo-bid-ee-uhm-stron-shee-uhm, -shuhm, -tee-uhm ]

noun

, Geology.
  1. a radiometric dating method whereby the ratio of rubidium isotope to strontium in a mineral is used to calculate the age of the mineral, based on the rate of radioactive decay of rubidium to strontium.


rubidium-strontium dating

noun

  1. a technique for determining the age of minerals based on the occurrence in natural rubidium of a fixed amount of the radioisotope 87Rb which decays to the stable strontium isotope 87Sr with a half-life of 4.7 × 10 11years. Measurement of the ratio of these isotopes thus gives the age of a mineral, for ages of up to about 4 × 10 9years
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubidium-strontium dating1

First recorded in 1965–70

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement