Dating Igneous Rocks Using the Potassium-Argon Laser Experiment (KArLE) Instrument: A Case Study for ~380 Ma Basaltic Rocks

Abstract

We report new K-Ar isochron data for two approximately 380 million-years-old basaltic rocks, using an updated version of the Potassium-Argon Laser Experiment (KArLE), which is being developed for future in situ dating of planetary materials. These basalts have K contents comparable with those of lunar KREEP basalts or igneous lithologies found by Mars rovers, whereas previous proof-of-concept studies focused primarily on more K-rich rocks. We aim to measure these analogous samples to show the advancing capability of in situ K-Ar geochronology.