Although analytically simpler, in practice 234U/238U requires knowledge of the ratio at the time the material under study was formed and is generally used only for samples older than the ca.
For those materials (principally marine carbonates) for which these conditions apply, it remains a superior technique.
[1] Unlike other radiometric dating techniques, those using the uranium decay series (except for those using the stable final isotopes 206Pb and 207Pb) compare the ratios of two radioactive unstable isotopes.
In theory, the 234U/238U technique can be useful in dating samples between about 10,000 and 2 million years Before Present (BP), or up to about eight times the half-life of 234U.
As such, it provides a useful bridge in radiometric dating techniques between the ranges of 230Th/238U (accurate up to ca.