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Understanding Dating Methods in Geology

Potassium-Argon Dating is used to date rocks and fossils that are older than about 60,000 years. Carbon-14 dating is only useful for dating organic materials younger than about 60,000 years. Relative dating techniques like the law of superposition can determine if one layer is older or younger than another layer but cannot provide a specific numerical age. Therefore, the best technique to use would be Carbon-14 dating, as it can date materials less than 40,000 years old.

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Deborah Chloe Enriquez
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18 views21 pages

Understanding Dating Methods in Geology

Potassium-Argon Dating is used to date rocks and fossils that are older than about 60,000 years. Carbon-14 dating is only useful for dating organic materials younger than about 60,000 years. Relative dating techniques like the law of superposition can determine if one layer is older or younger than another layer but cannot provide a specific numerical age. Therefore, the best technique to use would be Carbon-14 dating, as it can date materials less than 40,000 years old.

Uploaded by

Deborah Chloe Enriquez
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Dating Methods

Two types of dating


• Relative dating asks “Is a given event
older or younger than another event?”
• Numerical (absolute) dating asks “How
many years ago did an event take
place?”
What is an “event”?
• A discrete occurrence that can be
inferred from the rock or fossil record
• Examples: the deposition of a
sedimentary layer, or the death of an
organism
Relative dating
• Steno’s principles
(1669) are all very
common sense but do
order strata from oldest
to youngest
• Stratum = layer
• Strata = layers
• Stratigraphy = study of
the order of events in
sedimentary rocks
Principle of original horizontality
• Any distortion of
sedimentary strata
is due to
deformation after
the strata were
deposited
Principle of lateral continuity
• Strata are deposited
in a basin and thus
will be continuous
from end to end
• Any breaks are due
to erosion or
deformation after
deposition
Principle of superposition
• Younger strata
overlie older strata
• True of all gravity-
driven deposits
Principle of cross-cutting
relationships
• The body that cuts
through is younger
than the body that
got cut through
• True for dikes,
faults, joints and any
non-concordant
stratum
Principle of inclusions
• Sometimes called
“xenoliths”
• The inclusion is
older than the rock
in which it is
included
Correlation

• Similar strata separated by gaps, were once


part of a continuous layer
• Led to the idea of “formations”: a mappable
unit of rocks sharing a common origin event
Faunal succession
• William Smith and
George Cuvier (around
1800): There is an order
to the fossils found in
strata
• Smith and Cuvier did
not think of evolution
but the principle led
Charles Darwin to think
of how the order might
arise
Unconformities
• An unconformity is
a time gap in the
rock record
• Classified into
different types, but
all represent
significant missing
time
“The Great Unconformity”
Absolute Dating
• Determines the specific age of a fossil
• Looks at chemical properties
• 2 types:
– Carbon-14 (radiocarbon)
– Potassium-Argon
Carbon-14 Dating
• Also known as Radiocarbon dating
• Used to date organic substances
• Scientists measure the radiocarbon in
the fossil to determine its age
• Can only date specimens up to about
60,000 years old
Potassium-Argon Dating
• Scientists determine the age of the rock
surrounding the fossil to determine the
fossil’s age.
• Used only for inorganic substances
(rocks and minerals)
• Scientists measure the amount of argon
in the rock to determine its age
• Dates rock 60,000 years old and older
QUIZ
Which rock layer is the
oldest? Youngest?

Youngest

Oldest
If you wanted to figure out the
exact age of a rock, what
technique would you use?

[Link] Dating
[Link]-14 Dating
[Link] of Superposition
[Link]-Argon Dating
If you were looking to find the
exact age of a fossil that is at
least 1 million years old, what
technique would you use?

a. Carbon-14 Dating
b. Potassium-Argon Dating
c. Relative Dating
d. You can’t; it is impossible
If you wanted to figure out the
exact age of a fossil that is less
than 40,000 years old, what
technique would you use?
a. Carbon-14 Dating
b. Potassium-Argon Dating
c. Relative Dating
d. You can’t; it is impossible

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