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
On the Origin of Racism | The Creation Podcast: Episode 83
Racism and its foul fruits have plagued humanity for thousands of years and in the past couple of centuries it seems to have only reared...

NEWS
Methuselah-Like Longevity in Pre-Flood Mammals
Genesis claims that people in the pre-Flood world routinely attained 900-year lifespans. The best-known example is Methuselah, who had the longest recorded...

NEWS
Was an Insect Ancestor Discovered?
There is nothing simple about an animal group called the euarthropods (phylum Euarthropoda), which includes insects, crustaceans, and extinct trilobites. Evolutionists...

NEWS
October 2024 ICR Wallpaper
"The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light...

NEWS
Collapsed Utah Arch Prompts Questions about Arch Formation
We lost a natural wonder to gravity and erosion on Thursday, August 8, 2024.1 Those who visited Double Arch, also called “Hole in the...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR 2024 Resource Catalog
At the Institute for Creation Research, our mission is not only to conduct research demonstrating how science confirms Scripture but also to share this...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Beetle Blasts and Biomimetics | Creation.Live Podcast: Episode...
Though tiny, the bombardier beetle is a fascinating masterclass in design. Evolutionists claim that this explosive insect came about by chance,...

NEWS
Another Arch Collapse at a National Park
Erosion and other natural forces upon sedimentary formations such as exposed cliffs and arches belie the millions of years during which they allegedly...

CREATION PODCAST
Living in Light of Genesis | The Creation Podcast: Episode 82
The world tells us that the book of Genesis is, if not entirely, at least partially a myth. We are told that history, archaeology, and science...

NEWS
Does Pauli Exclusion Rescue Dino Protein?
Perhaps no other fossil discoveries have rocked the world of paleontology more than original organics like proteins in old bones. ICR helps curate a...