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rubidium-strontium dating

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rubidium-strontium dating

Method of estimating the age of rocks, minerals, and meteorites from measurements of the amount of the stable isotope strontium-87 formed by the decay of the unstable isotope rubidium-87 that was present in the rock at the time of its formation. The method is applicable to very old rocks because the transformation is extremely slow: the half-life, or time required for half the initial quantity of rubidium-87 to disappear, is approximately 48.8 billion years. See also dating.


rubidium-strontium dating [rü′bid·ē·əm ′strän·chəm ′dād·iŋ]
(geology)
A method for determining the age of a mineral or rock based on the decay rate of rubidium-87 to strontium-87.


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