There is a close analogy between dehydration and loss of argon curves obtained by laboratory heating of muscovite (figs. 2 and 3). Potassium atoms lie in potential cleavage planes of the muscovite. When K40 atoms disintegrate the resulting argon atoms are driven into the mica structure by recoil, except those whose paths make a small angle with the cleavage plane. These remain in the "unstable zone" and may escape from the muscovite. This introduces an element of uncertainty in K/A absolute age figures from mica. -- F. E. Ingerson.