Meteorite Age

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Graeme
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Meteorite Age

Post by Graeme »

I'm doing an astronomy course which I'm enjoying immensely. There was an assignment set for the first module which was on the subject of Planetary Science. We all handed in the assignment tonight so I haven't come here to ask anyone to do my home work for me! But whilst talking to the other people on the course it would appear that we all got differing results on a particular question about calculating the age of a meteorite!

Here's the question:

(b) Fig. 1 is a Sm-Nd isochron plot of the orthopyroxene mineral that makes up the bulk of the meteorite ALH84001.

(i) Determine the slope of the isochron.
(ii) Thus calculate the age of the meteorite. The constant for the decay of 147Sm, λ = 6.54 x 10-12yr-1.
Isochron Plot.png
This is my answer:
Spoiler
(i) Slope = rise/run

= (0.518-0.51)/(0.4-0.12)

= 0.008/0.28

= 0.029


(ii) t = ln(m+1)/λ

= ln(0.029+1)/6.54*10-12

= 0.02859/6.54*10-12

= 175*106 years
My answer seems quite low for the age of a meteorite but the rock in question is acrondrite so it might not be. I would be interested to know what others here might make it.

Regards

Graeme
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HansV
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by HansV »

If I calculate = 0.02859/6.54*10-12 in Excel, I get 4.37*109, or a bit over four thousand million years. That is slightly less than the age of our solar system (about 4.6*109 years).
Best wishes,
Hans

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PaulB
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by PaulB »

42
Regards,
Paul

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts his sails.

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Rudi
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by Rudi »

PaulB wrote:42
That's BobH's number...the answer for everything!

Graeme, your maths is a bit advanced for me so I'd rather eat Pi and look at shooting stars.
Regards,
Rudi

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Graeme
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by Graeme »

HansV wrote:If I calculate = 0.02859/6.54*10-12 in Excel, I get 4.37*109, or a bit over four thousand million years. That is slightly less than the age of our solar system (about 4.6*109 years).
That's interesting, when I'm at work I only ever use a spreadsheet for maths, I don't use a calculator. My error was because I didn't use the calculator properly! I did 6.54 xy -12

175 million years seems too young and 4.6 billion years seems too old. I'll check the rest of the calculations using a spreadsheet! I only used a calculator because I didn't know how to do natural logs in Excel. Or I could just Google ALH84001.
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Graeme
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by Graeme »

Rudi wrote:
Graeme, your maths is a bit advanced for me .................
That's not very likely!

Rudi wrote:
I'd rather eat Pi.........................
Pi day was last Saturday!
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HansV
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by HansV »

According to articles I found on Google, the ALH8001 meteorite does appear to be about 4 billion years old (give or take half a billion - peanuts!).
Best wishes,
Hans

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Graeme
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Re: Meteorite Age

Post by Graeme »

Likewise.

My assumption that an acrondrite meteorite is not as old as a crondrite is incorrect. It could have been knocked into space from the surface of Mars at any time. And I need to learn how to use a calculator properly!

Thanks Hans
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