daughter isotopes - (n.)
Isotopes formed by the radioactive decay of another isotope.
dB - (n.) ...
One common sense rule to remember is that the number of parent isotope atoms + the number of daughter isotope atoms = an unchanging number throughout time.
The carbonate was age dated using a parent-daughter isotope method and found to be 3.6 billion years old, and the organic molecules were first detected well within the ancient carbonate.
Measuring the amount of the parent nuclide and the amount of the daughter isotope, and knowing the decay rate, allows calculation of the time since the daughter isotope began to accumulate.
By comparing the amount of the parent isotope to that of the daughter isotope, astronomers can determine how long it has been since the radioactive parent isotope formed.
Above-ground nuclear tests by the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s and by France into the 1970s and 1980s spread a significant amount of fallout from uranium daughter isotopes around the world.
Within these rocks, "parent" isotopes decay at a predictable rate to form "daughter" isotopes. By determining the relative amounts of parent and daughter isotopes, the age of these rocks can be calculated.
Radioactivity: The spontaneous breaking apart, or decay, of unstable nuclei in isotopes. The unstable radioactive isotope is called the parent, and the products of the decay of the parent are called the daughter isotopes.
 See also: Isotope, Earth, Time, Planet, Rock
  
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