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LoginHow do we know the age of the surfaces we see on planets and moons? If a world has a surface as opposed to being mostly gas and liquid , astronomers have developed some techniques for estimating how long ago that surface solidified. Note that the age of these surfaces is not necessarily the age of the planet as a whole. On geologically active objects including Earth , vast outpourings of molten rock or the erosive effects of water and ice, which we call planet weathering, have erased evidence of earlier epochs and present us with only a relatively young surface for investigation. One way to estimate the age of a surface is by counting the number of impact craters. This technique works because the rate at which impacts have occurred in the solar system has been roughly constant for several billion years.
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This document discusses radiometric dating and how it is used to determine the absolute ages of rocks and minerals. It explains key concepts such as radioactivity, half-life, and how comparing ratios of radioactive isotopes like carbon and carbon can be used to calculate radiocarbon dates for samples.
The learning objectives in this section will help your students master the following standards:. Unstable nuclei decay. However, some nuclides decay faster than others.
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