Meaning of isochron | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A line on a chart linking rock of the same age (as determined from isotope ratios).
2. A collection of points (such as a manifold), each point representing a set of initial conditions for a given dynamical system, such that every set results in the same long-term behaviour of the system.

Equivalents

Examples

“Recapitulating, any suite of comagmatic rocks with an age t defines an isochron if its members all had the same initial ^{₈₇}Sr/^{₈₆}Sr ratio and if it was closed to both Rb and Sr since crystallization occurred and neither element was introduced from any extraneous source.[…]In this way, whole-rock Rb-Sr isochrons can produce rather reliable age data for rock samples.”

“The entire plane is foliated by isochrons.”

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