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The story of Zircon Crystals and Earth's age in a Nutshell.
How tiny Zircon Crystals - Zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) helped determine the age of the Earth (at approximately 4.5 Billion years old since the crust cooled), with Radiometric U-Pb (Uranium-Lead) dating.
Zircon Crystals trap Uranium Atoms in its crystal structure and naturally repel Lead Atoms when the crystal forms. Once the crystal structure is formed, nothing is able to escape. Over time the isotopes of Uranium start to transmutate into other elements in a process that is referred to as a decay chain.
An Uranium Atom first transmutates into a Thorium Atom (which takes a few billion years). Thorium is far more unstable, and in less than a month it turns into Protactinium. Within a minute Protactinium Atoms transmute again, and so the transmutation continues down the decay chain. At the end of the radioactive decay chain, the initial trapped Uranium Atoms finally decays into stable Lead (Pb) Atoms, which will remain Lead forever. The decay rate and time associated with each transmutation is constant in the Universe, which makes it possible to calculate the age of the crystal with Radiometric dating.
As Zircon Crystals are tough, it is the oldest geological time-capsules that survived in Earth's dynamic and ever-changing crust since it cooled. As nothing can get in or out of the Zircon Crystal structure, it is the most accurate way of geological dating.
By comparing the Uranium to Lead ratio in Zirconium silicate crystals on Earth, from Moon samples and from visiting Meteorites, Scientists were able to calculate that the Earth is 4.54 billion years old. The error margin is 50 million years, which is small considering the time-scale.
The background history of Radiometric dating:
In 1896 Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie discovered that certain isotopes undergo spontaneous radioactive decay, transforming into new isotopes. Atoms of a parent radioactive isotope randomly decay into a daughter isotope. Marie Curie won a Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry for her work.
About Lead:
The spin-off from trying to date the Earth by finding the Uranium to Lead ratio in Zircon crystals, was that the Scientist Clair Patterson discovered the unusually high amount of toxic Lead in the environment when he tried to analyse the Zircon in a Mass Spectrometer. This was due to the widespread use of Lead-based fuel, Lead-based paint, etc.
Our bodies require metals like Iron in the blood to transfer Oxygen through the body. The body is fooled and assumes that Lead is a good metal, but Lead not only destroys cells, but also blocks the signals of Neuroreceptors in the Brain.
After a lifetime of persistence and mounting evidence, Clair Patterson eventually won the case against the large Oil Companies that tried to discredit his findings. Since then the widespread use of Lead in everyday products were banned (which is why we now use unleaded fuel to power our vehicles).
Interesting reading:
More about isotopes and the Radiometric dating process.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_lead_dating
earthsky.org/earth/this-zircon-crystal-is-the-oldest-piec...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiometric_dating
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decay_chain
Thank you to Sumarie for letting photograph her beautiful Zircon Crystal specimen.
Photo usage and Copyright:
Medium-resolution photograph licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Terms (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). For High-resolution Royalty Free (RF) licensing, contact me via my site: Contact.
Martin
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Date Night, 11/02/2019, Manhattan, NY
Leica Camera AG M Monochrom
7Artisans-M 50mm f/1.1
ƒ/4.0 50.0 mm 1/6 800
📆 2019-01-24⏱18'30h➡️WPF♀️🏆Euro League Women📍Piscina: Pere Serrat 🔛: @cnsantandreu 🆚 @bvscvizilabda - @timeoutsports.cat @sports_of_our_world - Photo:©️J.Arnau/ @atelierphoto.cat - ⚪️🔵🔴 - 🔛 L'enllaç a les fotos ho podeu veure a la bio. El enlace a todas las fotos en la bio. Link to all photos in the bio. --
Date Palms Of The Holy Land Date Palms are one of the sweetest most versatile palms found in the Holy Land. Clustered in the Jordan valley, you will discover extensive groves of date palms throughout the valley. They can be seen from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. They are found clustered around Lake Hula […]
Al Ain Oasis is fed by a traditional falaj irrigation system and is located in the middle of the city. Al Ain Oasis preserves a culture and a way of life going back thousands of years. It covers 136 hectares and is the largest oasis in Al Ain. Farmers tend to more than 147,000 date palms, consisting of more than 100 varieties, as well as fodder crops and fruit trees such as mango, orange, banana, fig and jujube (known locally as sidr). Individual plots are separated by historic boundary walls
Date: July 30, 2022
Location: Gambrill State Park - Frederick, Maryland (Frederick County)
Frederick
39077_D4
A lunch date at a local Italian restaurant with a dear and beautiful friend Angela. It was great to catch up and spend some quality time together. Friends are so important and very close friends feel like family. Angela is beautiful inside and out, and is so good for my emotional and spiritual wellbeing. An amazingly intelligent women that can discuss any subject. A truly caring, thoughtful and strong woman
Mesnes Park (English: /ˈmeɪnz ˈpɑːk/(Mains) is a Victorian public park dating from 1878 in Wigan, Greater Manchester, UK.
The elongated 12 hectares (30 acres) park lies to the north-west of Wigan town centre with its main entrance at the junction of Bridgeman Terrace and Mesnes Park Terrace. It comprises formal flower beds in grass lawns, a pool, children's playgrounds, mini golf, sports grounds and a café.
Listed features
The park itself is Grade II listed and contains a total of seven original Grade II listed features.[1]
The main entrance gateway has carved sandstone piers and double cast iron gates with the Wigan town shield and the date of 1878.[2]
The associated entrance lodge has been refurbished and is used for meetings and weddings.[3]
On the right hand side of the main path (from the entrance to the main Pavilion feature) is the bronze statue of former local MP and benefactor Sir Francis Sharpe Powell.[4] Touching his bronze foot is said to bring good luck.
At the end of the main path is the south-east double flight of sandstone steps up to the Pavilion.[5] At the top of the steps stands a memorial to the soldiers of the Boer War.
Pair of Ornate Ghost pipefish @ TK III, Lembeh Strait
The red one is a female variation and the yellowish brown one is male variation.
Even though our tastes may change and evolve as we collect, there are some things that are ALWAYS on our wish list ... This outfit was definitely one of those things for me. 'Disco Dater' from 1967/1968 was an outfit I have wanted ever since I saw that Hair Fair Barbie TV ad I posted here recently, and that I first saw decades ago. FINALLY got one after all these years, and always wanted to put it on my favourite brunette Marlo. The photos don't do its colour justice, which is like this bright, almost fluorescent orange/pink... the same fabric used for Francie's silky romper from her 'Wild 'N Wooly'! (The lace overblouse is PERFECT with no snags or tears in it whatsoever, so was worth the wait. The dress has a thin inset band at the hip where the bodice meets the skirt in hot fuschia pink that is hidden by the lace overblouse. It also has that mesh tulle inside that most of the vintage era dresses were faced with! So much detail!) Here she is dancing the night away with my Hawaiian Ken, whom I've had in this natty 'The V.I.P. SCENE' outfit from 1971 forever, but somehow never photographed him in till now! (It has the rarer white tie with black polka dots.) What 60's dances will they do?