Explain how radiometric dating is used to estimate absolute age

How Did Scientists Calculate the Age of Earth?

Allmon and Robert M. Ross Answering this frequently encountered question in geology requires two separate steps. They correspond to two different ways that we express how old something or someone is in our everyday experience. When we ask how old an object or a person is, we can answer either with a number or by comparison to something or someone else. We can also give an age in numerical units, such as days, months, years, etc.

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Radiometric dating , radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon , in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares the abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope within the material to the abundance of its decay products, which form at a known constant rate of decay. Together with stratigraphic principles , radiometric dating methods are used in geochronology to establish the geologic time scale. By allowing the establishment of geological timescales, it provides a significant source of information about the ages of fossils and the deduced rates of evolutionary change. Radiometric dating is also used to date archaeological materials, including ancient artifacts. Different methods of radiometric dating vary in the timescale over which they are accurate and the materials to which they can be applied.

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As we learned in the previous lesson, index fossils and superposition are effective methods of determining the relative age of objects. In other words, you can use superposition to tell you that one rock layer is older than another.

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Radiometric Dating

Earth Science, Geology, Physics. Take a look at a globe or a map of the world. You might see towering mountains, deep oceans, and sprawling glaciers. All of these features make Earth what it is today.

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