Fossil dating is accurate since the method follows strict scientific guidelines:

 the age of rocks around a fossil can be considered

 mathematical calculations are used

 the state of decay, carbon-14, and isotopes figure in calculations

 tree of life relationships often help sort the dates

Accuracy of dating

Dating in geology may be relative or absolute. Relative dating is done by observing fossils, as
described above, and recording which fossil is younger, which is older. The discovery of means
for absolute dating in the early 1900s was a huge advance. The methods are all based on
radioactive decay:

Fossils may be dated by calculating the rate of decay of certain elements.

 Certain naturally occurring elements are radioactive, and they decay, or break down, at
predictable rates.
 Chemists measure the half-life of such elements, i.e., the time it takes for half of the
radioactive parent element to break down to the stable daughter element. Sometimes, one
isotope, or naturally occurring form, of an element decays into another, more stable form of
the same element.

 By comparing the proportions of parent to daughter element in a rock sample, and

knowing the half-life, the age can be calculated.

Older fossils cannot be dated by carbon-14 methods and require radiometric dating.
Scientists can use different chemicals for absolute dating:

 The best-known absolute dating technique is carbon-14 dating, which archaeologists

prefer to use. However, the half-life of carbon-14 is only 5730 years, so the method cannot be
used for materials older than about 70,000 years.
 Radiometric dating involves the use of isotope series, such as rubidium/strontium,
thorium/lead, potassium/argon, argon/argon, or uranium/lead, all of which have very long half-
lives, ranging from 0.7 to 48.6 billion years. Subtle differences in the relative proportions of the
two isotopes can give good dates for rocks of any age.

Dating Fossils I: Relative Dating

As a paleontologist, one of the most common questions I am asked is, "How do paleontologists know how old a fossil
is?" Often, I am asked if we use carbon dating ondinosaur bones.
To determine how old a fossil is, paleontologists use two basic methods. The first is called relative dating, and is the
subject of this article. The second technique is calledradiometric dating or radioisotope dating, and will be the
subject of my next article.
By relative dating, we mean that we determine the age of a fossil by looking at its relative position in the
stratigraphic record. This technique is often called stratigraphic dating. To use relative dating, we look at the
sediments above and below a fossil; this allows us to say that an animal lived after one species (found in the rock
below it), and before another species (found in the rock above it).

Imagine that every day you set aside the day's newspaper in a stack. If someone were to look at the newspapers, the
newspaper paleontologist would soon see that the earlier newspapers were on the bottom of the stack, while the
more recent ones were on the top.

Now, imagine that you gave your April 21st newspaper to your neighbour, that newspaper would not be in your stack,
not because April 21st did not exist, but because it simply was not preserved. This often happens in the fossil record.
For instance, the first known bats are found in the fossil record fully formed and looking just like modern bats. We
know that bats did not just magically appear one day, we just do not find earlier bats in the fossil record either
because they were not preserved, or we just have not been looking in the right places.

Next, imagine that the newspaper paleontologist finds a shopping list between the April 15th and April 16th
newspapers. This tells our newspaper paleontologist that the list was placed in the newspapers after the 15th and
before the 16th. The newspaper paleontologist cannot say for certain that the list was actually written on the 15th or
16th, but merely that it was placed on top of the April 15th newspaper before the April 16th issue was placed on top of
it. It's possible that you wrote the shopping list on April 10th, did your shopping on the 11th, found the list in your
pocket on the 14th, and placed it on the newspaper stack on the 15th.

The copyright of the article Dating Fossils I: Relative Dating in Paleontology is owned by Beverly Eschberger.
Permission to republish Dating Fossils I: Relative Dating in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Dating Fossils I: Relative Dating - Page: 2

This often happens in paleontology. When we use relative dating on a fossil, only know that the animal
died between certain events. We cannot say exactly when it was born, or when the species first appeared
on earth. We can only say when it first appeared in the fossil record.

An important tool in relative dating is the use of index fossils. Index fossils are fossils that are commonly found and
have a known range in the geologic record. For instance, trilobites are an important index fossil. They first
appeared during the Cambrian Period (570 to 500 million years ago) and are found until the MiddlePermian
Period (about 265 million years ago). They also went through a number of well-documented changes in their outward
appearance, allowing paleontologists to more accurately determine the age of the sediments they are found in, and to
use relative dating on other fossils found in the same stratigraphic layer.
In my article "Champsosaurs", I mentioned how paleontologists were able to determine that a champsosaur had
died in a certain time period because its remains were found directly on top of the basalt layer left by a volcano.
Paleontologists were able to use radiometric dating to determine the time when the volcano erupted. They then used
relative dating to say that the champsosaur had to have died after the eruption, because its bones were found above
the ashbed. In my next article, I will be discussing the different types of radiometric dating, and how it is useful to
paleontologists.
 What Is Chronometric Dating?
Chronometric dating has revolutionized archaeology by allowing highly accurate dating of historic artifacts
and materials with a range of scientific techniques.

Function
 Chronometric dating, also known as chronometry or absolute dating, is any archaeological
dating method that gives a result in calendar years before the present time. Archaeologists and
scientists use absolute dating methods on samples ranging from prehistoric fossils to artifacts from
relatively recent history.

Features
 Chronometric techniques include radiometric dating and radio-carbon dating, which both
determine the age of materials through the decay of their radioactive elements; dendrochronology,
which dates events and environmental conditions by studying tree growth rings; fluorine testing,
which dates bones by calculating their fluorine content; pollen analysis, which identifies the number
and type of pollen in a sample to place it in the correct historical period; and thermoluminescence,
which dates ceramic materials by measuring their stored energy.

History
 Scientists first developed absolute dating techniques at the end of the 19th century. Before
this, archaeologists and scientists relied on deductive dating methods, such as comparing rock
strata formations in different regions. Chronometric dating has advanced since the 1970s, allowing
far more accurate dating of specimens.

Absolute dating
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Absolute dating is the process of determining an approximate computed age in archaeology and geology.
Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an
unwarranted certainty and precision. Absolute dating provides a computed numerical age in contrast
with relative dating which provides only an order of events.

In archeology, absolute dating is usually based on the physical or chemical properties of the materials of
artifacts, buildings, or other items that have been modified by humans. Absolute dates do not necessarily tell us
precisely when a particular cultural event happened, but when taken as part of the overall archaeological
record they are invaluable in constructing a more specific sequence of events.

In geology, absolute dating is usually based on physical or chemical properties of igneous rock formations
which are closely associated with paleontological finds. Fossils are rarely dated directly.
Radiometric techniques
Main article: Radiometric dating

Radiometric dating is based on the constant rate of decay of radioactive isotopes. Given an initial and a
present quantity of such an isotope and its half-life, the time elapsed may be calculated. Various methods
apply to different materials and timescales. If a very short period of time has passed, as measured in
number of half-lives, a particular technique will be less accurate and more susceptible to statistical
fluctuations in the inherently random decay events. If many half lives of the isotope of interest have
passed, too much of the sample may have decayed to provide an accurate reading.

[edit]Radiocarbon dating
Main article: Radiocarbon dating

One of the most widely used and well-known absolute dating techniques is carbon-14 (or radiocarbon)
dating, which is used to date organic remains. This is a radiometric technique since it is based on
radioactive decay. Carbon-14 is an unstable isotope of normal carbon, carbon-12. Cosmic radiation
entering the earth’s atmosphere produces carbon-14, and plants take in carbon-14 as they fix carbon
dioxide. Carbon-14 moves up the food chain as animals eat plants and as predators eat other animals.
With death, the uptake of carbon-14 stops. Then this unstable isotope starts to decay into nitrogen-14. It
takes 5,730 years for half the carbon-14 to change to nitrogen; this is the half-life of carbon-14. After
another 5,730 years only one-quarter of the original carbon-14 will remain. After yet another 5,730 years
only one-eighth will be left. By measuring the proportion of carbon-14 in organic material, scientists can
determine the date of death of the organic matter in an artifact orecofact.
[edit]Limitations

Because the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years carbon dating is only reliable about up to 40,000 years,
radiocarbon is less useful to date some recent sites. See radiocarbon dating. This technique usually
cannot pinpoint the date of a site better than historic records.

A further issue is known as the "old wood" problem. It is possible, particularly in dry, desert climates, for
organic materials such as from dead trees to remain in their natural state for hundreds of years before
people use them as firewood or building materials, after which they become part of the archaeological
record. Thus dating that particular tree does not necessarily indicate when the fire burned or the structure
was built. For this reason, many archaeologists prefer to use samples from short-lived plants for
radiocarbon dating. The development of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, which allows a
date to be obtained from a very small sample, has been very useful in this regard.

[edit]Potassium-argon dating
Main article: Potassium-argon dating
Other radiometric dating techniques are available for earlier periods. One of the most widely used
is potassium-argon dating (K-Ar dating). Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope of potassium that decays
into argon-40. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years, far longer than that of carbon-14, allowing
much older samples to be dated. Potassium is common in rocks and minerals, allowing many samples
of geochronological or archeological interest to be dated. Argon, a noble gas, is not commonly
incorporated into such samples except when produced in situ through radioactive decay. The date
measured reveals the last time that the object was heated past the closure temperature at which the
trapped argon can escape the lattice. K-Ar dating was used to calibrate the geomagnetic polarity time
scale.

[edit]Thermoluminescence

Main article: Thermoluminescence dating

Thermoluminesence testing also dates items to the last time they were heated. This technique is based
on the principle that all objects absorb radiation from the environment. This process frees electrons within
minerals that remain caught within the item. Heating an item to 500 degrees Celsius or higher releases
the trapped electrons, producing light. This light can be measured to determine the last time the item was
heated.

[edit]Limitations

Radiation levels do not remain constant over time. Fluctuating levels can skew results - for example, if an
item went through several high radiation eras, thermoluminesence will return an older date for the item.
Many factors can spoil the sample before testing as well, exposing the sample to heat or direct light may
cause some of the electrons to dissipate, causing the item to date younger. Because of these and other
factors, Thermoluminesence is at the most about 15% accurate. It cannot be used to accurately date a
site on its own. However, it can be used to authenticate an item as antiquity.

How to date a fossil (without spending a fortune for dinner and flowers) Have you
wondered how the age of fossils are determined? There are several different methods scientists
use to determine age of fossils. Sometimes, it is possible to determine age directly from the
fossil. Many times however, fossils are to old to have their age directly measured. Instead, age
can be determined from radioactive elements occuring within rock found in association with the
fossils.
Radiometric (or radioactive) dating
This method is based upon radioactive decay. The spontaneous release of energy and/or particles
from the nucleus of an unstable atom (referred to as the parent ) into a stable atom (referred to as
the daughter ) is radioactive decay. This rate of decays occurs at a specific and constant rate. The
age of a rock can be determined by measuring the amount of the daughter product and adding
that to the amount of the remaining parent material.

There are four standards necessary for elements to be useful in radometric dating.
 1. The numbers of parent atoms and daughter atoms must be measurable.
 2. The parent element must decay rapidly enough to produce measurable amounts of the
daughter element, but measurable amounts of the parent element must also be present in
the sample.
 3. Little or no daughter element must have been present in the sample when it was
formed.
 4. The sample used must have been chemically isolated from outside chemical changes.

These systems meet the standards listed above. Half-life refers to the length of time required for
50% of the parent material to decay into the daughter product.
 Uranium 235 to Lead 207 (half-life = 710,000,000 years)
 Uranium 238 to Lead 206 (half-life = 4,500,000,000 years)

 Thorium 232 to Lead 208 (half-life = 14,000,000,000 years)

 Rubidium 87 to Strontium 87 (half-life = 47,000,000,000 years) - this is the most
common system used for dating rocks older than 100 million years.
 Potassium 40 to Argon 40 (half-life = 1,300,000,000 years) - this method is very often
used to date rock less than 60 million years old.

Carbon 14 to Nitrogen 14 (half-life = 5,570 years)--- There are 3 forms (isotopes) of carbon
occuring in nature: Carbon 12 (accounts for 99%), Carbon 13 (accounts for 1%), and Carbon 14
(accounts for less than 1%). While alive, plants and animals incorporate these isotopes of carbon
into their tissues at the ratio found in the atmosphere. Upon death, the Carbon 14 in their tissues
begins to decay. By measuring the remaining amount of Carbon 14, the age of the fossil can be
determined. This method can be used to date material ranging in age from a few hundred years to
about 50,000 years. The use of Carbon 14 permits the determination of age directly a fossil. For
fossils greater than 50,000 years old, the age of the fossil is found indirectly by determing the
age of the rock associated with the fossil. Carbon 14 dating has a dating range of several hundred
years before present to 50,000 years before present.
Fission-track dating
Fission-track dating is based on the presence of Uranium 238 and Uranium 235 in the sample to
be tested. These two uranium isotopes always occur in the same ratio in nature. Uranium 238
will undergone spontaneous decay or fission. Each time this happens, a tiny damage track is
created in the surrounding material. Etching with acid enlarges the tracks allowing them to be
seen under a microscope and counted. However, Uranium 235 does not undergo spontaneous
fission. Uranium 235 can be induced to undergo fission by irradiating the sample with high
energy neutrons in a nuclear reactor. By counting the number of induced tracks and knowing the
neutron dose, the uranium content can be determined. From the ratio of natural fission tracks to
induced fission tracks and knowing the half-life of Uranium 238 (half-life = 4,500,000,000
years), the sample's age can be determined.
Paleomagnetism
At the time of their formation, iron-bearing rocks and sediments may acquire a natural remnant
magnetism . This primary magnetism aligns parallel to the existing magnetic field of the Earth.
In a sense, a rock becomes a compass capturing its orientation to the Earth's magnetic field in its
structure.

The orientation of the magnetic field of the Earth at any point on Earth is specified by two
measurements: declination (direction) and inclination (plunge). The inclination varies from
horizontal at the equator to vertical at the poles. Today, the magnetic field is directed downward
in the northern hemisphere and upward in the southern hemisphere. Earth's magnetic field
periodically reverses its polarity. During the time of reversed polarity, a compass needle would
point south. These reversals make excellent markers in the geologic record because they global
in extend. The age of these reversals can be determined by radiometric dating. The age of a fossil
can be determined by correlating the position of the strata of rock where it was found and where
a reversal occurs.
Amino-acid dating
Amino-acid dating is based upon the principle that amino acids which make up proteins change
when an organism dies. The proteins produced by an orgamism when it is alive almost entirely
consists of amino acids in a "left-handed" configuration. After death, amino acids begin to invert
to their "right-handed" configuration. This process is called racemization . In fossils, an
equilibrium ratio is eventually reached. The time needed to reach this equilibrium depends
mainly upon temperature and secondarily on the species of the organism. Once the absolute date
for a region is determined using radiometric dating and the temperature history of a region is
established, amino-acid dating can be used to determine the age of a fossil. In the example of
marine mollusks, the ratio for the amino acid isoleucine increases from nearly zero in modern
shells to an equilibrium value of 1.30 +/- 0.05. At 10 degrees centigrade, it takes about 2 million
years to reach equilibrium. At minus 10 degrees centigrade, it takes 20 million years to reach
equilibrium.
Amino acid dating
Principle
All biological tissues contain amino acids. All amino acids except glycine possess an
asymmetric carbon atom, which means that the amino acid can have two different configurations, "D" or
"L". With a few important exceptions, living organisms keep all their amino acids in the "L" configuration.
When an organism dies, control over the configuration of the amino acids ceases, and the ratio of D/L
moves slowly toward equilibrium, a process called racemization. Thus, measuring the ratio of D/L of a
sample can allow calculations of how long ago the specimen died.

[edit]Factors affecting racemization

The rate at which racemization proceeds depends upon the type of amino acid, average temperature,
humidity, acidity, pH, and characteristics of the enclosing matrix. Also, D/L concentration thresholds
appear to occur as sudden decreases in the rate of racemization. These effects restrict amino acid
chronologies to materials with known environmental histories and/or relative intercomparisons with other
dating methods.

Temperature and humidity histories of microenvironments are being produced at ever increasing rates as
technologies advance and technologists accumulate data. These are important to amino acid dating
because racemization occurs much faster in warm, wet conditions compared to cold, dry conditions.
Temperate to cold region studies are much more common than tropical studies, and the steady cold of the
ocean floor or the dry interior of bones and shells have contributed most to the accumulation of
racemization dating data.

Strong acidity and mild to strong alkalinity induce greatly increased racemization rates. Generally, they
are not assumed to have a great impact in the natural environment, though tephrochronologicaldata may
shed new light on this variable.

The enclosing matrix is probably the most difficult variable in amino acid dating. This includes
racemization rate variation among species and organs, and is affected by the depth of decomposition,
porosity, and catalytic effects of local metals and minerals.

[edit]Amino acids used

Asparagine (acidified to aspartic acid) racemizes quickly and has frequently been used to date materials
from the present back to around 25000 BP. Isoleucine racemizes much more slowly, and has been used
to date materials from 5000 to 2 million years of age. Concentration thresholds and less comprehensive
environmental histories produce much greater margins of error with older isoleucine measures. Other
amino acids are less frequently used for dating, primarily because of difficulties in isolation
[edit]Applications

Data from the geochronological analysis of amino acid racemization has been building for thirty-five
years. Stratigraphy, oceanography, paleogeography, and paleoclimatology have been particularly
affected. Their applications include dating correlation, relative dating, sedimentation rate analysis,
sediment transport studies, sea level determinations, and thermal history reconstructions.

Paleobiology and archaeology have also been strongly affected. Bone, shell, and sediment studies have
contributed much to the paleontological record, including the hominoid. Verification ofradiocarbon and
other dating techniques by amino acid racemization and vice versa has occurred </ref> [1]. The 'filling in' of
large probability ranges, such as with radiocarbon reservoir effects, has sometimes been possible.
Paleopathology and dietary selection, paleozoogeography and indigineity, taxonomy and taphonomy, and
DNA viability studies abound. The differentiation of cooked from uncooked bone, shell, and residue is
sometimes possible. Human cultural changes and their effects on local ecologies have been assessed
using this technique.

The slight reduction in this repair capability during aging is important to studies of longevity and old age
tissue breakdown disorders, and allows the determination of age of living animals.

Amino acid racemization also has a role in tissue and protein degradation studies, particularly useful to
developing museum preservation methods. These have produced models of protein adhesive and other
biopolymer deteriorations and the concurrent pore system development.

Forensic science can use this technique to estimate the age of a cadaver or an objet d'art to determine
authenticity.

[edit]Procedure

Amino acid racemization analysis consists of sample preparation, isolation of the amino acid wanted, and
measure of its D:L ratio. Sample preparation entails the identification, raw extraction, and separation of
proteins into their constituent amino acids, typically by grinding followed by acid hydrolysis. The amino
acid hydrolysate can be combined with a chiral specific fluorescent, separated by chromatography or
electrophoresis, and the particular amino acid D:L ratio determined by fluorescence. Or, the particular
amino acid can be separated by chromatography or electrophoresis, combined with a metal cation, and
the D:L ratio determined by mass spectrometry. Chromatographic and electrophoretic separation of
proteins and amino acids is dependent upon molecular size, which generally corresponds to molecular
weight, and to a lesser extent upon shape and charge.
General Dating Concepts
Relative dating: determines if something is older or younger, but can’t tell how much older

or younger

Chronometric/Absolute dating: can tell how much older/younger something is.

Sample/Dated event: event that a particular dating method dates

Target event: event in which archaeologists are interested; what you want to apply the date

to

Bridging argument: inferences that bridge between the sample and target events

Context

Chronometric Dating Methods

Dendrochronology

uses variations in the thickness of tree rings to determine age

One of first chronometric techniques developed

Important in SW U.S. and parts of Europe

A.E. Douglass: astronomer

Kinds of trees used

sensitive to climatic fluctuations

long-lived

Master chronology

Floating chronology

Obtaining a date

Dated event: death/felling of the tree

Dating range: varies across regions and trees

W U.S., bristlecone pines - 9000 BP

W U.S., sequoias, junipers - 2000 BP

Western Europe, oaks - 7000 BP

Pros:

Dendro dates are precise

Cons:
limited to areas with master chronologies

Accuracy can be affected by several things

Bridging arguments

Obsidian Hydration

measures the layer of water formed when a fresh surface exposed

Hydration rind

How to...

thin-section made from a flake

examine under microscope, measure hydration rind

convert rind measurement to age using M2

= Kt

Hydration rate: the rate at which water absorbs into the obsidian

Dated event: exposure of new surface, often corresponds to target event

Dating range: 500-100,000 depending on region

Obsidian Hydration cont.

Things affecting hydration rate

large-scale temperature differences

micro-climatic differences

chemical composition of rock

Pros: dates an archaeological event

Cons: limited to areas with obsidian

Radiocarbon Dating

W.F. Libby

Radioactive carbon

Isotope - same # of protons, different # of neutrons

Radioactive isotopes decay

Carbon cycle

Half Life: The time it takes 1/2 a sample of radioactive isotope to decay.
Libby half life: 5568±30

Cambridge half life: 5730±40

Determining age

count beta particles emitted as 14C decays

modern sample: 14 beta particles per minute per gram of material

Calibration

method assumes that 14C production is constant over time

14C production can vary signficantly

calibration curves

Radiocarbon years versus Calendrical years

Contamination

no old or young carbon added to sample

Accelerated Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Radiocarbon Dating

counts the actual

14C atoms

differences from conventional radiocarbon dating

background radiation no longer a problem

Fossil Dating
American Decades | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

FOSSIL DATING
A Better Test
In the 1950s important advances were made in scientists' ability to date fossils accurately. While
radioactive dating techniques had been developed before 1950, the new radioactive-potassium dating
system devised during the decade was much more reliable.

Decaying Isotopes
Radioactive dating is possible because all naturally occurring material contains small amounts of
radioactive isotopes, which are maintained at a predictable ratio to nonradioactive elements in the same
material. When an animal dies, the nonradioactive traces remain stable during decay, but the radioactive
traces diminish at a steady rate over a very long period of time. Long after an organism's death, the
amount of radioactive element remaining in dead tissue can be carefully measured and compared to
nonradioactive material to determine how long it has been since the organism's death.
Carbon Dating
Standard radioactive dating processes such as carbon dating, discovered in 1948, will not work for most
fossils, though. Fossilized remains contain very little carbon, if any, from the original organism. The only
methods of dating fossils in the early 1950s were crude. A scientist might date a new specimen based on
knowledge of the age of other specimens in the area. Or the scientist might know how deep the new fossil
was when recovered and make an estimate about the age of the remains by guessing how long it took
layers of earth to form over it. Such estimates were known not to be very accurate.

Uranium Dating
A group of geologists and physicists at Berkeley were using radioactive dating to measure uranium traces
so they could determine the age of ancient rocks and fossils. The half-life of the uranium isotope (the time
it takes to lose half its radioactivity by conversion to lead) being measured is 4.5 billion years. This system
works well for dating ancient rock, but a method based on a quicker rate of disintegration had to be found
for dating more-recent formations, such as animal fossils, which are unlikely to be old enough for the the
uranium disintegration to be measurable.

Potassium Dating
The Berkeley group turned to radioactive potassium as a dating measure. Like radioactive uranium,
radioactive potassium is found in small amounts in rock. It forms argon (a gas) and has a half-life of only
1.31 billion years. So it was theoretically possible to measure the small amounts of radioactive potassium
converted to argon over a period of a few million years. The measurements were still difficult, but by using
very laborious extraction methods and a highly sensitive monitoring device called a mass spectrometer,
the Berkeley group succeeded in developing an acceptable method.

PILTDOWN MAN
In 1908 the fossilized remains of a man were tound in Piltdown, Sussex, in the south of England. Because
these fossils, which came to be called the Piltdown Man, were found near the remains of mammals
known to have lived in the Lower Pleistocene age (also known as the Ice Age), scientists, who back then
had no reliable method of fossi1 dating, assumed that the Piltdown Man was of that era himself. Some
scientists were dubious, but Piltdown advocates successfully argued that their man had lived between
200,000 and 1 million years ago.

In 1952 scientists tested the Piltdown Man using the fluorine method of fossil dating. Fluorine
accumulates in fossils from groundwater at a predictable rate, so by measuring the fluorine
content, assumptions about age can be made. Modern scientists found that the jawbone of the
Piltdown Man contained bones of two different ages. X rays confirmed that the Piltdown Man's
jaw had been altered within the century. He was a hoax. His oldest parts were no more than
50,000 years old, making Piltdown a recent link, and a scientifically insignificant one, in the
chain of evolution.
 and

Evolution
Links to our Past

News of the Present

Insight for the Future

Alfred R. Wallace
© Linnean Society of London

Dating Methods in Science

Strata, Fossils and Age of the Earth
Is Dating Really Important?Index For This PageI wish this page was
unnecessary.

Because of the distortions and lies spread by fundamentalists about scientific dating there is a need for a
centralized source of information on the topic. A few examples of such lies are presented at the very bottom
of this page.

For each dating or chronological method there is a link in the box at right to take you to that section of this
page. There, you will find a brief description of the method, plus links to take you to other webpages with
more extensive information.

Dating is not necessary to demonstrate that evolution is a fact. Chronological sequence is all that is really
required. However, human beings love to see factual precision, and we want to know how old something
is.

Please remember that all dating methods, even those termed "absolute," are subject to margins of error. We
say the Earth is 4.56 ± 0.02 billion years old. That is a very small amount of possible error range. There are
20 methods shown here. Modern studies almost always use two or more methods to confirm dating work
and to build confidence in the results obtained.Overview of Methods
Superposition
Stratigraphy
Dendrochronology
 Radiocarbon C14
Radiometric Dating Methods
Obsidian Hydration Dating
Paleomagnetic/Archaeomagnetic
Luminescence Dating Methods
Amino Acid Racemization
Fission-track Dating
Ice Cores
Varves
Pollens
Corals
Cation Ratio
Fluorine Dating
Patination
Oxidizable Carbon Ratio
Electron Spin Resonance
Cosmic-ray Exposure DatingOverview of Scientific Dating MethodsDating
the Past : This is an excellent overview of dating methodologies, and is a chapter in a textbook on
Archaeology. You may find it useful for the clear definitions, and for excellent links on a variety of topic.
Many of these links also appear where appropriate below.

Content for Chronological Methods : by George H. Michaels and Brian M. Fagan, University of
California. Includes an Introduction to Chronological Methods.

eMuseum Dating Exhibit : Provides clear definitions of and explanations about many dating processes
listed below. Also goes to some pains to mention problems encoutered with some of the methods.

Back to Page IndexSuperpositionSuperposition -- It's a

Law : One of the most fundamental principles of archaeology is
the Law of Superposition. The law states that strata that are
younger will be deposited on top of strata that are older, given
normal conditions of deposition. This law is the guiding principle
of stratigraphy, or the study of geological or soil layers.
Stratigraphy is still the single best method that archaeologists have
for determining the relative ages of archaeological materials.

Geologic Time: Relative Time Scale : James Hutton and

William Smith advanced the concept of geologic time and
strengthened the belief in an ancient world. Hutton, a Scottish
geologist, first proposed formally the fundamental principle used
to classify rocks according to their relative ages. He concluded,
after studying rocks at many outcrops, that each layer represented
a specific interval of geologic time. Further, he proposed that
wherever uncontorted layers were exposed, the bottom layer was deposited first and was, therefore, the
oldest layer exposed; each succeeding layer, up to the topmost one, was progressively younger. The Major
Divisions of Geologic Time are shown here, arranged in chronological order with the oldest division at the
bottom, the youngest at the top.
Relative Time, Superposition and Cross-cutting Relationships : Geologic intrusions, faults and
unconformities are explained and pictured.

Back to Page IndexStratigraphyStratigraphy and Cross-

Dating/Biostratigraphy : Stratigraphy is the study of strata, or layers. Specifically, stratigraphy refers
to the application of the Law of Superposition to soil and geological strata containing archaeological
materials in order to determine the relative ages of layers. Cross-dating is a technique used to take
advantage of consistencies in stratigraphy between parts of a site or different sites, and objects or strata
with a known relative chronology. A specialized form of cross-dating, using animal and plant fossils, is
known as biostratigraphy.

Correlation by Fossils : Correlation means matching the order of geologic events in one place with the
order of geologic events in another place. By far, the most widespread method of correlation uses fossils

Geologic Time: Index Fossils : Keyed to the relative time scale are examples of index fossils, the
forms of life which existed during limited periods of geologic time and thus are used as guides to the age of
the rocks in which they are preserved.

William "Strata" Smith, a civil engineer and surveyor, was well acquainted with
areas in southern England where "limestone and shales are layered like slices of
bread and butter." His hobby of collecting and cataloging fossil shells from these
rocks led to the discovery that certain layers contained fossils unlike those in other
layers. Using these key or index fossils as markers, Smith could identify a
particular layer of rock wherever it was exposed. Because fossils actually record the
slow but progressive development of life, scientists use them to identify rocks of
the same age throughout the world. See more information about "Strata" Smith and
his original geologic map of England. Information about Simon Winchester's
delightful biography of Smith, The Map That Changed the World is available
at amazon.com. Click on the map to see a larger version.

Back to Page IndexDendrochronologyThe Principles of Dendochronology.

Dendrochronology -- Tree Rings : Tree-Ring dating is based on the principle that the growth rings
on certain species of trees reflect variations in seasonal and annual rainfall. Trees from the same species,
growing in the same area or environment will be exposed to the same conditions, and hence their growth
rings will match at the point where their lifecycles overlap.

Bristlecone Pine Dendrochronology : Earth's oldest living inhabitant "Methuselah" at 4,767 years,
has lived more than a millennium longer than any other tree. [ While this may be true, a shrub in Tasmania
could be 40,000 years old. See Oldest Living Organism.]

Sheffield Research Dendrochronology : The Sheffield Laboratory now has a continuous master
sequence for England going back to about 5000BC. This is made up of numerous regional tree-ring
chronologies, particularly in the medieval and post-medieval periods, for which the laboratory now has
more than 200 reference chronologies from many areas.

The Ultimate Tree-ring Pages : This really must be the ultimate web resource for this topic. You will
find information about tree-rings, current research, and examples of practical applications of this science.

Back to Page IndexRadiocarbon C14Radiocarbon: The C14

Method : There are over 130 radiocarbon dating laboratories around the world
producing radiocarbon assays for the scientific community. The Carbon14
technique has been and continues to be applied and used in many, many different
 fields including hydrology, atmospheric science, oceanography, geology, palaeoclimatology, archaeology
and biomedicine.

eMuseum -- C14 Dating Exhibit : This is an excellent, easy to understand explanation of the process.
The accuracy of radiocoarbon dating was tested on objects with dates that were already known through
historical records such as parts of the dead sea scrolls and some wood from an Egyptian tomb. Based on the
results of these tests the analysis showed that C14 agreed very closely with the historical information.

Radiocarbon Dating : An excellent series of short movies take students through a course of explanation
and demonstration of C14 methods.

Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. About research in radiocarbon methodology. Includes many
protocols for adjusting results to account for fluctuations in atmospheric C14.

C14 Resources : For learning more about radiocarbon methods, laboratories and databases.

Carbon Dating: An excellent article about the process and its limitations, written without scientific
jargon.

Back to Page IndexRadiometric Dating Methods Radiometric Dating -- A Christian

Perspective : by Dr. Roger C. Wiens, Los Alamos National Laboratory. Also discusses other dating
methodologies. This article should be a "must read" for any person interested in factualy accurate
information on dating methods.

Radiometric Dating Film Clips : By comparing the proportion of K-40 to Ar-40 in a sample of
volcanic rock, and knowing the decay rate of K-40, the date that the rock formed can be determined. A
series of movie clips walks you through the process.

Radiometric Dating Basics : Gives the simple principles of how the process works. Provides a table
showing six parent/daughter isotopes and their half-lives.

Geologic Time: Radiometric Time Scale : More on the basics from the United States Geological
Service. Discussed six isoptopes commonly used to date very ancient rocks.

Reliability of Radiometric Dating. : Similar to this webpage, it presents many links to articles about
radiometric dating and the age of the earth, some of which I do not list here for want of space.

Isochron Radiometric Dating : Isochron methods avoid the problems which can potentially result
during radiometric testing. Be sure to see An Animated Isochron Diagram, or, Watching a Rock Age on an
Isochron Diagram. These are very nice pages from www.talkorigins.org.

Age of the Earth : Radiometric Dating from The Evolution Evidence Page. The most compelling
argument for an age of the earth of 4.5 billion years are the large number of independent tests that have
been used to confirm this date. These tests have been performed on what are thought to be the earth's oldest
surviving rocks, meteorites, and moon rocks. These tests have consistently given the same ages for each of
these objects. Examples of a number of consistent dates derived from different methods are given.

Isotopes, Radiometric Dating and the Geologic Time Scale : A short but clear explanation
about radioactive isotopes commonly used for determining ages of rocks (with graphics) and putting
numbers on the geologic time scale, extending it back before the occurance of abundant index fossils.

Thermion Mass Spectrometry : This is a relatively new method intended to to improve the precision
of uranium and thorium istopy methods. It excludes contamination and weathering of travertines and makes
 possible more precise dating of thin deposits of secondary carbonates. No web-based resource for this
method is available.

New Electron Microprobe Determines Ages of Rocks: A team of University of Massachusetts

geologists is exploring a new way to determine the ages of ancient rocks, and refining our understanding of
the timing and rates of the geologic events that have shaped the planet. The new method offers greater
efficiency, and access to a much more detailed geologic record than current dating methods.

Back to Page IndexObsidian Hydration DatingObsidian Hydration Dating

eMuseum -- Obsidian Hydration Dating : The actual measurement of hydration involves using
light transmission to determine the amount of hydration, and therefore the relative age of the sample.
Prepared slides are observed through a microscope to determine the amount of light transmission. White
light and/or polarized light may be used in the analysis.

Back to Page IndexPaleomagnetic/ArchaeomagneticPaleomagnetic and

Archaeomagnetic Dating

Back to Page IndexLuminescence Dating MethodsIncludes:

 Thermoluminescence (TL, stimulated by heat)

 Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL, stimulated by visible light)

 Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL, stimulated by infrared light)

 Radioluminescence (RL, stimulated by ionizing radiation)

Thermoluminescence : It can be applied to date a large variety of volcanic materials such as rhyolitic lava
flows, tephras and other pyroclastic deposits. It can also date meteorite impact craters, earthquake-generated fault
gouge material, contact heating and metamorphism of sediments baked by lava overflows, and anthropogenically
heated materials such as ceramics, cooking hearths,and deliberately fire-treated rocks such as flints used by
prehistoric people for toolmaking. Also see Quaternary TL Surveys - A Guide to Thermoluminescence Date
Measurement. Additional information is available at Luminescence Dating.

Luminescence Dating : Scientists in North America first developed thermoluminescence dating of rock
minerals in the 1950s and 1960s, and the University of Oxford, England first developed the thermoluminescence
dating of fired ceramics in the 1960s and 1970s.During the 1970s and 1980s scientists at Simon Frasier University,
Canada, developed standard thermoluminescence dating procedures used to date sediments. In 1985, they also
developed optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques, which use laser light, to date sediments.

Luminescence Dating -- Thermo/Optical

OSL -- Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dating

Back to Page IndexAmino Acid RacemizationAmino Acid Geochronology : This is a relative, and
sometimes absolute, dating method that relates the diagenesis of fossil protein preserved in carbonate materials with
time (geologic age of the sample) and temperature (long term chemical temperature of the enclosing sediment).
Stratigraphic applications of the method have been demonstrated from both marine and non-marine sequences all
over the world using a variety of carbonate fossil materials including mollusks, foraminifera, bone, ostrich egg
shells, ostracodes, and tooth enamel. A brief explanation is given at Bear Lake Methods: Amino Acid Dating.

eMuseum -- Amino Acid Racemization : Provides a frank discussion of possible problems encountered
when using this method, and the need for cross-checking results against other methods.

Back to Page IndexFission-track DatingeMuseum -- Fission-track Dating : Fission-track dating is

one type of radioactive dating method used by archaeologists to determine the thermal age of artifacts containing
uranium-bearing minerals. Fission tracks are created at a constant rate throughout time so that from the number of
tracks present it is possible to determine the amount of time that has past since the track accumulation began. Dates
from anywhere between twenty to one thousand million years ago can be determined with this particular technique.

Fission Track Dating : A brief description of the method. The Alpha-recoil-track Dating Method is similar, but
has the advantage of offering a several thousand-fold increase in sensitivity.

Back to Page IndexIce CoresAre We Right About Icecap Dating? : Scientists think that they have
counted ice layers accurately. And, they think that one layer almost always means one year. The GISP2 workers
believe that they were very careful, and that they are off by less than 5% at 50,000 years before present. But are they
right?

Back to Page IndexVarveseMuseum -- Varve Analysis : Varves form two or more distinctive layers at
different seasons of the year. Gives a nice description about overcoming problems in the use of this method.

Counting Sediment Layers in Rock : The basic reason for varves is that rivers run faster in the spring. A
flooding river carries coarse material. During the rest of the year, the river is slower, and carries finer material. The
result is that lake bottom deposits tend to alternate, coarse/fine/coarse/fine.

Back to Page IndexPollenseMuseum -- Pollen Analysis : The pollen analysis, study of vegetation history
using the microfossils (pollen grain and spores of size 15-50 um), can give us useful information about the target
area's condition in the present and past. Since the outside of the pollen grain wall is made of highly resistant
material, the pollen spores from 400 million years ago can be found today. Each pollen grain and spore is different in
structure and shape, thus, the morphology is the key to understanding the kinds of vegetation that existed and their
evolutionary development. Nice graphic of pollen history at this site.

Stratigraphic Palynology : Palynology is the branch of science dealing with microscopic, decay-resistant
remains of certain plants and animals. It has many applications including archaeological palynology, Quaternary
palynology , and stratigraphic palynology.

Back to Page IndexCoralsCoral Slide Set from NOAA : Corals exhibit

seasonal growth bands very much like those in trees. Sometimes these bands are
visible to the naked eye; usually, however, they are more visible in an x-ray like the
one shown at right. When paleoclimatologists drill a coral core, they can count the
growth bands and date samples exactly. Long cores can cover several hundred
years; this portion of a core from Urvina Bay in the Galápagos Islands covers the
period from 1716 to 1735 A. D.
Tidal Slowdown, Coral Growth, and the Age of the Earth : In certain modern corals we find growth-
bands that indicate yearly, monthly, and even daily growth. There are about thirty daily bands per month and about
365 daily bands per year for modern corals and shellfish. But careful analysis of the growth-bands of fossil corals
and shellfish from the Devonian and Pennsylvanian has confirmed that years in these periods contained more days
than years do now (about 400).

Back to Page IndexCation RatioeMuseum -- Cation Ratio Dating : Rocks are covered by a kind of
varnish, a chemically-changed layer that builds up over time due to calcium and potassium seeping out of the rock.
The cation ratio is determined by scraping the varnish from the carved or petroglyph surface back to the original
rock surface and making a comparison of the two using a positively charged ion.

Back to Page IndexFlourine DatingeMuseum -- Flourine Dating : Fluorine dating is chiefly of value in
determining whether bone implements or human skeletal remains found in association with other bones were buried
at the same time. It was fluorine dating that was instrumental in the debunking of Piltdown Man.

Back to Page IndexPatination DatingeMuseum -- Patination Dating : Although it is not an actual

dating technique, patination is used when multiple artifacts of the same type are found in the same area and under
the same conditions. The use of this technique is to determine the age of the artifacts, relative to the others, by
comparing the thickness of the patina on them. There are many variables that have to be calculated, and this makes
dating lithics from patina formations a relative dating technique.

Back to Page IndexOxidizable Carbon Ratio DatingeMuseum -- Oxidizable Carbon

Ratio : Even though OCR has the potential to provide archaeologists and geologists with a method of finding
accurate and precise age estimates from organic carbon within soil, it is still new and in the experimental stage.
Scientists question both the methods of the procedure and the accuracy of the results, which is common and needed
when any new scientific theory arises. Federal and State organizations, museums, Cultural Resource Management
companies, archaeologists, pedologists, and geomorphologists are all currently conducting field studies for OCR
dating at hundreds of sites in Northeastern North America and in parts of Europe.

Back to Page IndexElectron Spin ResonanceElectron Spin Resonance : Also called electron
paramagnetic resonance, ESR dating also relies on the changes in electron orbits and spins caused by radioactivity
over time. However, ESR dating can be used over longer time periods, up to two million years, and works best on
carbonates, such as in coral reefs and cave deposits. It has also seen extensive use in dating tooth enamel.

Back to Page IndexCosmic-ray Exposure DatingCosmic-ray Exposure Dating : This dating

method relies on measuring certain isotopes produced by cosmic ray impacts on exposed rock surfaces. Because
cosmic rays constantly bombard meteorites flying through space, this method has long been used to date the "flight
time" of meteorites--that is the time from when they were chipped off a larger body (like an asteroid) to the time
they land on Earth.

DATING FOSSILS
Dating a dinosaur skeleton

Rock layers of a cliff face

Index fossils

Radiometric dating

The Age of Dinosaurs was so many millions of years ago that it

is very difficult to date exactly. Scientists use two kinds of
dating techniques to work out the age of rocks and fossils. The
first method is called relative dating. This considers the
positions of the different rocks in sequence (in relation to each
other) and the different types of fossil that are found in them.
The second method is called absolute dating and is done by
analysing the amount of radioactive decay in the minerals of
the rocks.

Dating a dinosaur skeleton

Scientists find out the age of a dinosaur fossil by dating not

only the rocks in which it lies, but those below and above it.
Sometimes, scientists already know the age of the fossil
because fossils of the same species have been found
elsewhere and it has been possible to establish accurately
from those when the dinosaur lived. Geologists call this the
principle of lateral continuity. A fossil will always be younger
than fossils in the beds beneath it and this is called the
principle of superposition.

Rock layers of a cliff face

In an undisturbed sequence of rocks, such as in a cliff face, it

is easy to get a rough idea of the ages of the individual strata –
the oldest lies at the bottom and the youngest lies at the top.
This is because new sediments are always laid down on top of
sediments that have already been deposited. So, when looking
at the history of a cliff face, it is important to read the story it
tells from the bottom layer up.
Index fossils

Index fossils are fossils that can be used to date the rock in
which they are found. The best examples are fossils of animals
or plants that lived for a very short period of time and were
found in a lot of places. Ammonites, shelled relatives of today’s
octopus, make ideal index fossils. Suppose a dinosaur fossil
has been found in the beds of an ancient delta (the mouth of a
river leading to the sea). The sediment of this area was laid
down after ammonite A appeared 199 million years ago, and
before ammonite B became extinct 195 million years ago. This
narrows the date of the delta beds to the four million years
between these dates.

Radiometric dating

There are some radioactive elements in rock that decay by

giving off energy and turning into different, more stable
elements. This radioactive decay takes place at a constant
rate for each radioactive element. Scientists know exactly how
long it will take for half the quantity of the element to change,
and this state is known as its half-life. After another half-life
has passed, the element will have decayed to a quarter of its
original amount. After another half-life has passed, it will have
decayed to an eighth, and so on.

A good example of this is potassium-argon dating. The half-life

of potassium-40 is 1,310 million years, after which half of its
substance will have changed into stable argon-40.

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Facts About Trilobite Fossils

By Stephen Oakley, eHow Contributor

 Print this article

Trilobite fossils can display incredible detail.

Trilobites are one of the most popular fossils studied by collectors and paleontologists alike. Living in
the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago, trilobites were arthropods similar to the crabs and
spiders we see today. An arthropod is an invertebrate animal with a hard outer shell known as an
exoskeleton. Trilobite fossils have been found all over the world in rocks that were once part of the
ancient sea bed.

Read more:Facts About Trilobite Fossils |

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