Isochron burial dating determines age based on when material was last exposed to cosmic radiation that produces radioactive aluminum and beryllium isotopes, which then decay at a steady rate after burial.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by multiple independent, high-quality sources including peer-reviewed methodological papers (Balco & Rovey 2008, Granger & Muzikar 2001) and reputable science journalism (Nature, PNAS, Purdue). Accurately reflects established geochronological method. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.99 clusters=5 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=partial on cosmogenic nuclide (26Al/10Be) isochron burial dating methodology (upstreams: Granger & Muzikar (2001) Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Balco & Rovey (2008) American Journal of Science, Granger et al. (2015) Nature paper on Little Foot dating) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- 'Little Foot' Fossil Skeleton Rivals Famous Lucy in Age (seed:science_and_space)
- https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/archive/releases/2015/Q2/new-instrument-dates-old-skeleton-little-foot-3.67-million-years-old.html (corroboration)
- https://www.pnas.org/post/journal-club/journal-club-age-of-little-foot-provides-twist-in-story-of-hominid-evolution (corroboration)
- https://ajsonline.org/article/65864-an-isochron-method-for-cosmogenic-nuclide-dating-of-buried-soils-and-sediments.pdf (corroboration)
- http://geomorphology.sese.asu.edu/Papers/Granger_Muzikar_01.pdf (corroboration)
- http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v522/n7554/fig_tab/nature14268_F3.html (corroboration)