Radiohalos: A Tale of Three Granitic Plutons | The Institute for Creation Research

 
Radiohalos: A Tale of Three Granitic Plutons

Download PDFDownload Radiohalos: A Tale of Three Granitic Plutons PDF

by Andrew A. Snelling, Ph.D. and Mark H. Armitage

Presented at the Fifth International Conference on Creationism, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 4–9, 2003. Published in: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism, R. L. Ivey (Ed.), pp. 243–267, 2003.

© 2003 Creation Science Fellowship, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Published with permission. All rights reserved.

Abstract

The origin and significance of radiohalos, particularly the 218Po, 214Po, and 210Po radiohalos, have been debated for almost a century, perhaps largely because their geological distribution has been poorly understood. In this study samples from three granitic plutons were scanned under microscopes for radiohalos as part of a larger project to investigate the geological occurrence and global distribution of all types of radiohalos. These three granitic plutons were all demonstrated to have formed during the Flood, but all contained 210Po, 214Po, and 238U radiohalos, usually with 210Po >> 214Po and 238U; 218Po radiohalos were rare, and 232Th radiohalos were abundant in one granitic pluton. Thus neither the Po radiohalos nor the granitic rocks could have been formed by fiat creation. Instead, a model is proposed in which hydrothermal fluids separated 222Rn and the Po isotopes from their parent 238U in zircons and transported them very short distances along cleavage planes in the host, and adjacent, biotites until the 222Rn decayed and the Po isotopes were chemically concentrated into radiocenters, there to subsequently produce the Po radiohalos. Furthermore, the very short half-lives of these isotopes require this transport process to be rapid (within days), and the observed fullyformed 238U and 232Th radiohalos imply at least 100 million years worth (at today’s rates) of accelerated radioactive decay has occurred. Other implications include: accelerated heat flow during the Flood that helped catastrophically drive global tectonic and geological processes, including metamorphism and magma genesis; and rapid convective hydrothermal fluid flows that rapidly formed and cooled regional metamorphic complexes, rapidly cooled granitic and other plutons, and rapidly formed many metallic ore deposits.

Keywords

Radiohalos, 218Po, 214Po, 210Po, 238U, 232Th, Granitic Plutons, Biotites, Zircons, Monazites, Hydrothermal Fluids, 222Rn, Radiocenters, Accelerated Decay and Heat Flow, Rapid Hydrothermal Fluid Flows, Rapid Regional Metamorphism, Rapid Pluton Cooling, Rapidly Formed Metallic Ore Deposits

For Full Text

Please see the Download PDF link above for the entire article.

The Latest
NEWS
Snowflakes: A Symphony of Intricacy and Beauty
Snowflakes are among the most exquisite forms that nature has to offer, and no two flakes are alike. Several evolutionists have attempted to use the...

NEWS
Molecular Machines Twist Evolution
We read in the first chapter of Romans that God loves us so much that He has given us a general revelation of what He has created. Verse 19 states,...

CREATION PODCAST
America's Oldest National Park - Exploring the Unique Features...
America is home to stunning forests, mountains, monuments, and other wondrous features. The unique beauty of many of these locations have prompted...

NEWS
Binary Star Pair Detected Near Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers have detected a likely binary star pair, designated as D9, orbiting the supermassive black hole Sag A* at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.1,2...

NEWS
The Jaw Drops an Evolutionary Explanation
The lepidosaurs are a large and diverse group of land vertebrates that include the snakes and lizards. There are almost 12,000 species of these animals....

NEWS
''Super-Puff'' Exoplanets: Evidence of Youth?
Astronomers have inferred the presence of a fourth exoplanet in the Kepler-51 star system.1,2 They made the discovery when the third exoplanet...

NEWS
A Fresh Start
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit...

NEWS
January 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind." (Isaiah 65:17 NKJV) ICR...

NEWS
All Things New
"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Neptune
by Renée Dusseau and Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover...