Principal cosmogenic and uranium-thorium series radioisotopes

radioisotope half-life in years principal uses

Cosmogenic isotope

beryllium-10 1.5(10⁶) dating marine sediment, manganese nodules, glacial ice, quartz in rock exposures, terrestrial age of meteorites, and petrogenesis of island-arc volcanics

carbon-14 5,730 + or − 40 dating of biogenic carbon, calcium carbonate, terrestrial age of meteorites

aluminum-26 0.716(10⁶) dating marine sediment, manganese nodules, glacial ice, quartz in rock exposures, terrestrial age of meteorites

silicon-32 276 + or − 32 dating biogenic silica, glacial ice

chlorine-36 0.308(10⁶) dating glacial ice, exposures of volcanic rocks, groundwater, terrestrial age of meteorites

argon-39 269 dating glacial ice, groundwater

manganese-53 3.7(10⁶) terrestrial age of meteorites, abundance of extraterrestrial dust in ice and sediment

nickel-59 8(10⁴) terrestrial age of meteorites, abundance of extraterrestrial dust in ice and sediment

krypton-81 0.213(10⁶) dating glacial ice, cosmic-ray exposure age of meteorites

Uranium-thorium series isotope

uranium-234 2.48(10⁵) dating coral and carbonate deposits in oceans and lakes

thorium-230 7.52(10⁴) dating ocean sediments

lead-210 22.26 dating glacial ice and recent sediments

protactinium-231 3.248(10⁴) dating recent sediments

Source: Adapted from Gunter Faure, Principles of Isotope Geology. Copyright 1986 by John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.