PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF RADIOMETRIC DATING

Radiometric dates are a key part of the CHRONOS data set, however, the interpretation of these dates is not always straightforward. Radiometric dating is based upon the assumption that the half-life of radioactive decay is a constant, but long-duration experiments at Brookhaven have shown significant deviations from constancy. Also no explanation is given why decay rates vary so greatly. Especially noteworthy is the fact that free neutrons decay on average in 11 or 12 minutes, whereas the neutrons in stable isotopes never decay.

The common philosophical axiom that all forces are transmitted by interactions leads to an alternative explanation of spontaneous radioactivity by relating decay to particle interactions. Gamma decays are similar to X-rays, caused by shift of electron-orbit. Beta decays could be a neutron-neutrino interaction to form a proton, an electron and two neutrinos.

The varying decay rates could thus be related to the degree of shielding from neutrinos and/or density of cosmic neutrino flux. Objections to this include an argument that the capture cross-section is too small for neutron to interact with neutrinos. The reasoning is circular, because the small capture cross-section has been estimated on the basis of the negligible decay rate of essentially stable isotopes.

With a half-life of ~ 6000 yrs, theoretical DPM (disintegration/min) of C-14 should be <10 counts annually. In fact, the measured DPM decreased by some 1400 counts or 1.5% (99,800 in Nov. 1998 to 98,400 in May 2000) with several significant oscillations. This experimental DPM temporal trend parallels measured variation of cosmic-ray intensity. The correlation of our DPM counts to cosmic ray intensity suggests that the beta-decay rate may have varied in response to changing neutrino flux. This interpretation provides a philosophical basis for radiometric dating: time is measurable because the number of neutron-neutrino interactions in any given sample is a function of the total neutrino flux during the passage of time. Calibration of C-14 ages against historical dates has discrepancies as large as 10%, which our experiments suggest that it may have resulted from the assumption of constant half-life. Young ages from colder years during the Holocene may be an indication of more effective shielding from cosmic rays during those time intervals.