Lu-hf total-rock isochron for the eucrite meteorites

The isotope 176Lu (2.6% of natural lutetium) decays by ??- to 176Hf, with a long half life. We present here the first Lu-Hf isochron. The eucrite meteorites, a suite of planetary igneous rocks of known age, 4,550 Myr, define a 10-point total-rock isochron with a slope of 0.0934 ?? 40, leading to a value of 3.53 ?? 0.14 ??1010yr for the ??--decay half life of 176Lu. The isochron intercept of 0.27973 ?? 12 gives the initial 176Hf/177Hf for the inner Solar System at the time of accretion. ?? 1980 Nature Publishing Group.