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Authors

Richard Overman

Proposal

Over 500 articles, published in 30 different secular journals that deal with the subject of K-Ar and Ar-Ar dating on terrestrial samples were reviewed to determine the prevalence of excess Argon documented in the secular literature. The findings are that the problem of excess Argon is ubiquitous throughout the world and in all layers of the standard geologic column. Secular geochronolgists’ attempts to deal with the problem have been unsuccessful. An analysis of 7,404 apparent ages extracted from 347 of the articles is performed to evaluate the relationship between the dependant variable of apparent age and 4 independent variables: 1) analysis type (K-Ar or Ar-Ar); 2) whether the researcher identified the geologic strata before or after obtaining the apparent ages; 3) whether the rock dated is volcanic or metamorphic; 4) the geologic strata of the sample as identified in the original article. The conclusions are that secular and creationist Geochronologists make similar statements regarding argon based dating, so any claim that creationist Geochronologists are using anomalous results is unfounded. Argon based dating methods are ineffective at identifying the absolute date of the rock being tested. The 40Ar/39Ar ratio is not related to the age of the rock. Argon based dating methods do not replicate the standard geologic column. The problem of “excess” argon is not anomalous or isolated but ubiquitous. The data from this study indicate that there are differences between Precambrian and Phanerozoic rocks. A potential mechanism of argon retention in some basaltic rock to account for the excess argon is proposed.

Keywords

Argon-Argon Dating, Excess Argon, Geochronology, Geologic Column, Potassium-Argon Dating, Radiometric Dating

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