Definitions for "Radioactive Dating"
A dating method that measures the amount of radioactive decay that has taken place in the rocks being studied.
the most reliable method of obtaining a 'date' for a rock depends upon the observation that the rate of decay of a radioactive element is a constant. The earliest methods, using uranium and thorium MINERALS as the starting material, yielded evidence that the extent of geological time was at least 2 million years. The development of knowledge concerning radioactive processes since 1939 has made available a number of refined techniques for radioactive dating which are nowadays routine processes.
A technique for estimating the age of material, such as rock, based on the known initial isotopic composition and the known rate of radioactive decay for unstable isotopes originally present.