Posted on 04/09/2009 8:42:27 AM PDT by GodGunsGuts
Implications of Polonium Radiohalos in Nested Plutons of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, Yosemite, California
by Dr. Andrew Snelling and Dallel Gates
April 8, 2009
Abstract
The formation of granite plutons has conventionally been thought to be a slow process requiring millions of years from generation to cooling. Even though new mechanisms for rapid emplacement of plutons have now been proposed, radioisotope dating still dominates and dictates long timescales for pluton formation. However, a new challenge to those long timescales has arisen from radiohalos. Polonium radiohalos found in biotite flakes of granites in Yosemite National Park place severe time constraints on the formation and cooling of the granite plutons due to the short half-lives of the polonium isotopes. The biotite flakes must have formed and cooled below 150ºC before the polonium supply was exhausted and the radiohalos could be preserved, so the U decay had to be grossly accelerated and the formation of the plutons had to be within 6–10 days. Furthermore, rapid cooling of the plutons was facilitated by the hydrothermal fluid convection that rapidly generated the Po radiohalos, challenging conventional thinking that cooling is a slow process by conduction. It is evident that there were greater volumes of hydrothermal fluids in the later central intrusions of the nested plutons of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite. So as expected, more Po radiohalos were generated in these plutons as they were sequentially intruded, confirming the hydrothermal fluid transport model for Po radiohalo formation. Thus granite pluton formation is consistent with the timescale of a young earth, and accelerated radioisotope decay renders the absolute ages for these granite plutons grossly in error...
(Excerpt) Read more at answersingenesis.org ...
If so I failed this one.
It looks like Dr. Snelling is supporting a 400-year-old date for the earth.
This contradicts previous creation science research, proving that creationist theory is false.
But seriously, this was debunked so long ago that I had forgotten about it. For those who are interested more detail can be found here and here.
I found the author in the 2nd link to be a little cranky.
Thought you might be interested in the following:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2224273/posts?page=253#255
PS 1/1,000,000th% For some reason your screenname cannot be used to ping you to a thread. What’s up with that?
Isn’t it between Fire and Water?
"And I don’t go to the ‘hopper’. I visit my `Fortress of Solitude’ where I sit and ponder matters of great import.
"Like 'plutons.'"
Comforting.
Scratches head, can't remember mentioning hopper... ;-)
How could I resist that compelling headline!
Just like real geology in a mining journal.
The article, not so much.
The polonium halo claims of Gentry have been completely refuted many times. See here, here, and here for a small sampling.
The summary mentions accelerated radioisotope in passing, as if it were accepted science or nothing remarkable. Whoever wrote that does not seem to understand that a million-fold increase in the rate of radioisotope decay would also result in a million-fold increase in heat production. The earth would have completely evaporated, probably explosively.
That you Gort?
Correct; it's about 5800 years old.
Look out, you're showing your age!
Implications of Polonium _What_ in nested _What_ in the Tuolumne - What??
That false correlation assumption is a close kin to the old "proof that 1=0" from 7th grade algebra. Most of the other "debunkings" are of similar origin. Opinion is neither proof, nor science. They should be red faced for offering such nonsense.
I think something was changed after I signed up. People have been complaining about it for about 5 years now.
Of the different radiohalo types distinct from 238U (and 232Th), presently the only ones to be identified with known α-radioactivity are the Po (polonium) radiohalos (fig. 1a, c, d). There are three Po isotopes in the 238U-decay chain. In sequence they are 218Po (half-life of 3.1 minutes), 214Po (half-life of 164 microseconds), and 210Po (half-life of 138 days).
It's humorous that he completely ignores radon gas, especially since it was discovered to be a significant source of radioactivity in homes way back in 1984.
He seems to be a very good geologist however. But then I don't remember any geologists in the hot lab. In fact I don't remember a lot of the other physics majors in there, either. ;)
You're right about the heat production. And the earth wouldn't be able to dissipate the heat at a million times the rate.
The earth would like more like Venus.
FWIW, I’ve found talkorigins to be somewhat less than objective. (to put it mildly)
>>For some reason your screenname cannot be used to ping you to a thread. What’s up with that?
I think something was changed after I signed up. People have been complaining about it for about 5 years now. <<
I’d bet on either the percent or less than sign in the name.
“...why did we all decide to open this thread “
To see the glow in the dark satellite pictures of Yosemite!
>>The summary mentions accelerated radioisotope in passing, as if it were accepted science or nothing remarkable. Whoever wrote that does not seem to understand that a million-fold increase in the rate of radioisotope decay would also result in a million-fold increase in heat production. The earth would have completely evaporated, probably explosively. <<
Yep. Uranium has a 4.5 billion year half life and each atom that fissions gives up heat. If it gave up that heat in 6,000 years the heat density would be tremendously higher.
The other big relevant point is that if a test sample appears to contradict 1,000+ others tests and samples you don’t assume that all the others are wrong and all the theories (that seem quite consistent)are wrong.
Its far more likely this one aberration is either an error or there is another consistent factor that would explain the anomalous data.
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