Isochron Discordances and the Role of Inheritance and Mixing of Radioisotopes in the Mantle and Crust | The Institute for Creation Research

 
Isochron Discordances and the Role of Inheritance and Mixing of Radioisotopes in the Mantle and Crust

Download PDFDownload Isochron Discordances and the Role of Inheritance and Mixing of Radioisotopes in the Mantle and Crust PDF

RATE II: Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, (Volume II), L. Vardiman et al., eds. (San Diego, CA: Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society, 2005)

Abstract

New radioisotope data were obtained for ten rock units spanning the geologic record from the recent to the early Precambrian, five of these rock units being in the Grand Canyon area. All but one of these rock units were derived from basaltic magmas generated in the mantle. The objective was to test the reliability of the model and isochron “age” dating methods using the K-Ar, Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, and Pb-Pb radioisotope systems. The isochron “ages” for these rock units consistently indicated that the α-decaying radioisotopes (238U, 235U, and 147Sm) yield older “ages” than the β-decaying radioisotopes (40K, 87Rb). Marked discordances were found among the isochron “ages” yielded by these radioisotope systems, particularly for the seven Precambrian rock units studied. Also, the longer the half-life of the α- or β-decaying radioisotope, and/or the heavier the atomic weight of the parent radioisotope, the greater was the isochron “age” it yielded relative to the other α- or β-decaying radioisotopes respectively. It was concluded that because each of these radioisotope systems was dating the same geologic event for each rock unit, the only way this systematic isochron discordance could be reconciled would be if the decay of the parent radioisotopes had been accelerated at different rates at some time or times in the past, the α-decayers having been accelerated more than the β-decayers. However, a further complication to this pattern is that the radioisotope endowments of the mantle sources of basaltic magmas can sometimes be inherited by the magmas without resetting of the radioisotope “clocks” during ascent, intrusion, and extrusion in the earth’s crust. This is particularly evident in recent or young rocks. Some evidence of opensystem behavior was also found, and crustal contamination of some of the rock units was evident from their isotope geochemistry. Nevertheless, the overall systematic trend of radioisotope “ages” in the rock units according to their relative positions in the geologic record confirms that accelerated radioisotope decay was the dominant factor operating through earth history, with inheritance and mixing of radioisotopes from the mantle and crust as contributing factors in producing anomalous “ages.” Within the Biblical framework of earth history, it is thus postulated that accelerated radioisotope decay accompanied the catastrophic geologic processes operating early in the Creation week and during the subsequent global Flood. Furthermore, because each of the three assumptions of conventional radioisotope dating—known initial conditions, closed-system behavior, and constancy of decay rates—have been clearly shown to be subject to failure, the radioisotope methods cannot, and should not, be relied upon to produce absolute “ages” for the earth’s rock strata.

Keywords

radioisotope dating, isochron ages, global Flood, decay rates, RATE II

For Full Text

Please see the Download PDF link above for the entire article.

The Latest
CREATION PODCAST
Homo Naledi: The Lies Behind Evolution's Rising Star | The Creation...
Homo naledi, once evolution's 'rising star,' was considered to be a prime example of human evolution. But is it really proof? Or...

NEWS
A Subsurface Ocean on Mimas?
Scientists have analyzed data obtained from the Cassini spacecraft and concluded that irregularities in the orbit of Saturn’s moon Mimas indicate...

NEWS
In Theaters March 20 & 21: The Ark and the Darkness
Is Genesis true? What about Noah’s Flood? How did Noah fit the animals on the ark? Wasn’t it a local flood? Have you asked these questions? Though...

NEWS
Enigmatic Fossil Plants
The pre-Flood world thousands of years ago was unlike the world of today.1 Unfamiliar animals and plants were common, and there were a lot...

NEWS
Surprisingly Colorful Fossil Snail Shells
Finding organic compounds such as flexible dinosaur collagen and complete bone cells1,2 is becoming common, much to the shock and consternation...

NEWS
March 2024 ICR Wallpaper
"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said." (Matthew 28:6 NKJV) ICR March 2024 wallpaper is now available for mobile, tablet,...

CREATION PODCAST
Homo Erectus: The Shocking Truth About the "Ape Man"...
Homo erectus, or "Upright Man," has been upheld as a piece of mankind's "evolutionary history" since its discovery in 1891....

NEWS
Mystery of Moths' Warning Sound
Insects of all types continue to amaze entomologists with their design and physiology. Cleveland Hickman, Jr., et al. stated, “insect ears are...

NEWS
Geneticist Fired for Affirming Humans Once Lived 900 Years?
Geneticist Alexander Kudryavtsev, the head of the Russian Academy of Science’s Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, has been fired, reportedly...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Solar Eclipses
Designed by Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover fun facts...