noun
geological dating that relies on the proportions of radioactive potassium in a rock sample and its decay product, argon
• Hypernyms: ↑dating, ↑geological dating
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/peuh tas"ee euhm ahr'gon/, Geol.
a method for estimating the age of a mineral or rock, based on measurement of the rate of decay of radioactive potassium into argon.
[1965-70]
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potassium-argon dating noun
Estimation of the date or prehistoric mineral formation from the proportion of potassium-40 to argon-40, the latter having developed from the former by radioactive decay and being trapped in the rock
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Main Entry: ↑potassium
Useful english dictionary. 2012.