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Equilibrium and Disequilibrium in Isotopic Series

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It is well known that radioactive decay of ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th to their ultimate stable daughter products (²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁶Pb, and ²⁰⁸Pb, respectively) is widely used in dating geological materials. It is also generally recognized that these parent/daughter systems are suitable only for dating very old samples, because the parent isotopes have geologically long half-lives (that of ²³⁵U is shortest at 0.7 Gyr).

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Less widely appreciated is the fact that the U,ThPb systems can be used for dating much younger events by measuring intermediate decay products. All three decay series involve several "intermediate daughters" formed during . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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