In botany, plant cuticles are protective, hydrophobic, waxy coverings produced by the epidermal cells of leaves, young shoots and all other aerial plant organs.Cuticles minimize water loss and effectively reduce pathogen entry due to their waxy secretion.he cuticle both prevents plant surfaces from becoming wet and helps to prevent plants from drying out. Xerophytic plants such as cactus have very thick cuticles to help them survive in their arid climates.
radiometric dating. n. 1. (Archaeology) any method of dating material based on the decay of its constituent radioactive atoms, such as potassium-argon dating or rubidium-strontium dating. Also called: radioactive dating.
Radiometric dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they formed.he precision of a dating method depends in part on the half-life of the radioactive isotope involved. For instance, carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years. After an organism has been dead for 60,000 years, so little carbon-14 is left that accurate dating can not be established.