uránsorozatok

Uránsorozatok, also known as uranium series dating, is a radiometric dating technique used to determine the age of certain materials. It relies on the radioactive decay of isotopes of uranium. Uranium has several naturally occurring isotopes, but the most relevant for this dating method are Uranium-238 (²³⁸U) and Uranium-235 (²³⁵U). These isotopes undergo a series of radioactive decays, forming long decay chains that ultimately end in stable isotopes of lead.

The principle behind uránsorozatok is that the parent uranium isotopes and their intermediate radioactive daughter products are incorporated into a sample at the time of its formation. As time passes, the parent isotopes decay into their daughter products. By measuring the relative abundance of a parent isotope and one or more of its daughter isotopes, scientists can calculate how much time has elapsed since the sample was formed or last disturbed. Different isotopes and their decay chains have different half-lives, allowing for the dating of a wide range of geological and archaeological materials, typically from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Common applications of uránsorozatok include dating cave formations like speleothems (stalactites and stalagmites), corals, fossil teeth, and some volcanic rocks. The accuracy of the method depends on the assumption that the system of parent and daughter isotopes has remained closed since the time of formation, meaning no uranium or its daughters have been added or removed. Scientists carefully select samples and employ analytical techniques to ensure this closed-system assumption is met.