🔭 Meteorite Clocks: Dating the Early Solar System

What you’ll learn

1. A meteorite is a clock you can holdDistinguish a meteorite's fall date from the geological events recorded by minerals inside it.A specimen can contain several histories, so dating begins by defining which event the mineral may preserve.
2. Radioactive atoms make an internal stopwatchExplain parent-daughter decay, half-life, uranium-lead systems, and isochron reasoning.Known decay rates turn isotope ratios into elapsed time while comparison exposes starting conditions and disturbance.
3. The laboratory turns a fragment into a dateTrace how a sample is selected, prepared, measured, and reported with uncertainty.Microscopy, separation, mass spectrometry, standards, and geological models connect a tiny fragment to a defensible result.
4. From one stone to Solar System timeConnect meteorite ages to early Solar System chronology and the idea of multiple recorded events.The oldest reliable meteorite materials establish a boundary near 4.56 billion years, while later ages record later histories.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

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