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Rhenium–osmium dating is a form of
radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to Chronological dating, date materials such as Rock (geology), rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurity, impurities were selectively incorporat ...
based on the
beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron ...
of the
isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...
187 Re to 187 Os. This normally occurs with a
half-life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...
of 41.6 × 109 y, but studies using fully ionised 187 Re atoms have found that this can decrease to only 33 y. Both rhenium and osmium are strongly siderophilic (iron loving), while Re is also chalcophilic (sulfur loving) making it useful in dating sulfide ores such as gold and Cu–Ni deposits. This dating method is based on an isochron calculated based on isotopic ratios measured using N-TIMS (Negative – Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry).


Rhenium–osmium isochron

Rhenium–osmium dating is carried out by the isochron dating method. Isochrons are created by analysing several samples believed to have formed at the same time from a common source. The Re–Os isochron plots the ratio of radiogenic 187Os to non-radiogenic 188Os against the ratio of the parent isotope 187Re to the non-radiogenic isotope 188Os. The stable and relatively abundant osmium isotope 188Os is used to normalize the radiogenic isotope in the isochron. The Re–Os isochron is defined by the following equation: :\left(\frac\right)_ = \left(\frac\right)_ + \left(\frac\right) \cdot (e^-1), where: : ''t'' is the age of the sample, : λ is the decay constant of 187Re, : (''e''λ''t''−1) is the slope of the isochron which defines the age of the system. A good example of an application of the Re–Os isochron method is a study on the dating of a
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
deposit in the Witwatersrand
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
camp,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.


Rhenium–osmium isotopic evolution

Rhenium and osmium were strongly refractory and siderophile during the initial accretion of the Earth which caused both elements to preferentially enter the Earth's core. Thus the two elements should be depleted in the silicate Earth yet the 187 Os / 188 Os ratio of mantle is chondritic. The reason for this apparent contradiction is owed to the change in behavior between Re and Os in partial melt events. Re tends to enter the melt phase (incompatible) while Os remains in the solid residue (compatible). This causes high ratios of Re/Os in oceanic crust (which is derived from partial melting of mantle) and low ratios of Re/Os in the lower mantle. In this regard, the Re–Os system to study the geochemical evolution of mantle rocks and in defining the chronology of mantle differentiation is extremely helpful.
Peridotite Peridotite ( ) is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock consisting mostly of the silicate minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium (Mg2+), reflecting the high pr ...
xenolith A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock (geology), rock fragment (Country rock (geology), country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term ''xenolith'' is almost exclusi ...
s which are thought to sample the
upper mantle The upper mantle of Earth is a very thick layer of rock inside the planet, which begins just beneath the crust (geology), crust (at about under the oceans and about under the continents) and ends at the top of the lower mantle (Earth), lower man ...
sometimes contain supra-chondritic Os-isotopic ratios. This is thought to evidence of subducted ancient high Re/Os
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic crust that is being recycled back into the mantle. This combination of radiogenic (187 Os that was created by decay of 187 Re) and nonradiogenic melts helps to support the theory of at least two Os-isotopic reservoirs in the mantle. The volume of both these reservoirs is thought to be around 5–10% of the whole mantle. The first reservoir is characterized by depletion in Re and proxies for melt fertility (such as concentrations of elements like Ca and Al). The second reservoir is chondritic in composition. Direct measurement of the age of continental crust through Re–Os dating is difficult. Infiltration of xenoliths by their commonly Re-rich magma alters the true elemental Re/Os ratios. Instead, determining model ages can be done in two ways: "Re depletion" model ages or the "melting age" model. The former finds the minimum age of the extraction event assuming the elemental Re/Os ratio equals 0 (komatiite residues have Re/Os of 0, so this is assuming a xenolith was extracted from a near-komatiite melt). The latter gives the age of the melting event inferred from the point when a melt proxy like Al2O3 is equal to 0 (ancient subcontinental lithosphere has weight percentages of CaO and Al2O3 ranging from 0 to 2%).


Pt–Re–Os systematics

The radioactive decay of 190 Pt to 186Os has a half-life of 4.83(3)×1011 years (which is longer than the age of the universe, so it is essentially stable). However, in-situ 187 Os / 188 Os and 186 Os / 188 Os of modern plume related magmas show simultaneous enrichment which implies a source that is supra-chondritic in Pt/Os and Re/Os. Since both parental isotopes have extremely long half-lives, the Os-isotope rich reservoir must be very old to allow enough time for the daughter isotopes to form. These observations are interpreted to support the theory that the Archean subducted crust contributed Os-isotope rich melts back into the mantle.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhenium-osmium dating Radiometric dating Rhenium Osmium