DATING METHODS:

ESTABLISHING THE
TIMELINE OF THE LIFE
ON EARTH

 RELATIVE DATING
 ABSOLUTE DATING
 RELATIVE DATING
 IS THE SCIENCE OF DETERMINING THE RELATIVE ORDER
OF PAST EVENTS (I.E., THE AGE OF AN OBJECT IN
COMPARISON TO ANOTHER), WITHOUT NECESSARILY
DETERMINING THEIR ABSOLUTE AGE, (I.E. ESTIMATED
AGE).
 THIS IS DONE THROUGH STRATIGRAPHY (SUCCESSION OF
ROCKS) WHERE THE ORDER OF ROCK FORMATIONS
CORRELATES TO GEOLOGIC TIME.
 THE TOPMOST LAYER SUGGESTS THE MOST RECENT. IN
LIKE MANNER, THE OLDEST ROCKS ARE UNDERSTOOD TO
BE AT THE BOTTOM.
 THIS METHOD DOES NOT PROVIDE ACTUAL NUMERICAL
DATES FOR THE ROCKS, BUT ALL ARE JUST ESTIMATES
BASED ON THE PROFILE OF THE STATUS WHICH INCLUDES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, ROCK TYPE AND PRESENCE OF
ORGANISMS.
In geology, rock or superficial deposits, fossils and
lithology can be used to correlate one stratigraphic
column with another. Prior to the discovery of
radiometric dating which provided a means of absolute
dating in the early 20th century, archaeologists and
geologists used this technique to determine ages of
materials. Though relative dating can only determine
the sequential order in which a series of events
occurred, not when they occur, it remains a useful
technique especially in radiometric dating. Relative
dating by biostratigraphy is the preferred method in
paleontology, and is in some respects more accurate
(Stanley, 167–69). The Law of Superposition, which
states that older layers will be deeper in a site than
more recent layers, was the summary outcome of
'relative dating' as observed in geology from the 17th
century to the early 20th century.
The regular order of occurrence of fossils in
rock layers was discovered around 1800 by
William Smith. While digging the Somerset
Coal Canal in southwest England, he found
that fossils were always in the same order
in the rock layers. As he continued his job
as a surveyor, he found the same patterns
across England. He also found that certain
animals were in only certain layers and that
they were in the same layers all across
England. Due to that discovery, Smith was
able to recognize the order that the rocks
were formed. Sixteen years after his
discovery, he published a geological map of
England showing the rocks of different
geologic time eras.
GEOLOGICAL MAP
GEOLOGICAL
TIME
“THE TRILOBITE FOSSIL IS OLDER
THAN THE DINOSAUR TOOTH
FOSSIL.”
PRINCIPLES OF RELATIVE
CHRONOLOGY

Methods for relative dating were

developed when geology first emerged as
a formal science. Geologists still use the
following principles today as a means to
provide information about geologic history
and the timing of geologic events.
 UNIFORMATARIANISM
 INTRUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS
 CROSS-CUTTING RELATIONSHIPS
 INCLUSIONS AND COMPONENTS
 ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY
 SUPERPOSITION
 FAUNAL SUCCESSION
 LATERAL CONTINUITY
 INCLUSIONS OF IGNEOUS ROCKS
 INCLUDED FRAGMENTS
 UNIFORMATARIANISM
 The principle of Uniformitarianism states that
the geologic processes observed in operation
that modify the Earth's crust at present have
worked in much the same way over geologic
time.
 A fundamental principle of geology advanced
by the 18th century Scottish physician and
geologist James Hutton, is that "the present is
the key to the past." In Hutton's words: "the
past history of our globe must be explained by
what can be seen to be happening now.
 INTRUSIVE
RELATIONSHIPS
 The principle of intrusive relationships
concerns crosscutting intrusions. In
geology, when an igneous intrusion cuts
across a formation of sedimentary rock,
it can be determined that the igneous
intrusion is younger than the
sedimentary rock. There are a number
of different types of intrusions, including
stocks, laccoliths, batholiths, sills and
dikes.
 CROSS-CUTTING
RELATIONSHIPS
 The principle of cross-cutting relationships
pertains to the formation of faults and the age
of the sequences through which they cut. Faults
are younger than the rocks they cut;
accordingly, if a fault is found that penetrates
some formations but not those on top of it, then
the formations that were cut are older than the
fault, and the ones that are not cut must be
younger than the fault. Finding the key bed in
these situations may help determine whether
the fault is a normal fault or a thrust fault.
 Cross-cutting relations can be used to determine the
relative ages of rock strata and other geological
structures. Explanations: A - folded rock strata cut by a
thrust fault; B - large intrusion (cutting through A); C -
erosional angular unconformity (cutting off A & B) on
which rock strata were deposited; D - volcanic dyke
(cutting through A, B & C); E - even younger rock strata
(overlying C & D); F - normal fault (cutting through A, B,
C & E).
 INCLUSIONS AND
COMPONENTS
 The principle of inclusions and components states
that, with sedimentary rocks, if inclusions (or clasts)
are found in a formation, then the inclusions must be
older than the formation that contains them. For
example, in sedimentary rocks, it is common for gravel
from an older formation to be ripped up and included
in a newer layer. A similar situation with igneous rocks
occurs when xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies
are picked up as magma or lava flows, and are
incorporated, later to cool in the matrix. As a result,
xenoliths are older than the rock which contains them.
 ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY
 The principle of original
horizontality states that the deposition
of sediments occurs as essentially
horizontal beds. Observation of modern
marine and non-marine sediments in a
wide variety of environments supports
this generalization (although cross-
bedding is inclined, the overall
orientation of cross-bedded units is
horizontal).
 SUPERPOSITION
 The law of superposition states that a sedimentary rock
layer in a tectonically undisturbed sequence is younger
than the one beneath it and older than the one above it.
This is because it is not possible for a younger layer to
slip beneath a layer previously deposited. The only
disturbance that the layers experience is bioturbation, in
which animals and/or plants move things in the layers.
however, this process is not enough to allow the layers
to change their positions. This principle allows
sedimentary layers to be viewed as a form of vertical
time line, a partial or complete record of the time
elapsed from deposition of the lowest layer to deposition
of the highest bed.
 FAUNAL SUCCESSION
 The principle of faunal succession is based on the
appearance of fossils in sedimentary rocks. As organisms
exist at the same time period throughout the world, their
presence or (sometimes) absence may be used to provide
a relative age of the formations in which they are found.
Based on principles laid out by William Smith almost a
hundred years before the publication of Charles Darwin's
theory of evolution, the principles of succession were
developed independently of evolutionary thought. The
principle becomes quite complex, however, given the
uncertainties of fossilization, the localization of fossil types
due to lateral changes in habitat (facies change in
sedimentary strata), and that not all fossils may be found
globally at the same time.
 LATERAL CONTINUITY
 The principle of lateral continuity states
that layers of sediment initially extend
laterally in all directions; in other words,
they are laterally continuous. As a
result, rocks that are otherwise similar,
but are now separated by a valley or
other erosional feature, can be assumed
to be originally continuous.
 Layers of sediment do not extend indefinitely; rather, the limits
can be recognized and are controlled by the amount and type
of sediment available and the size and shape of the
sedimentary basin. Sediment will continue to be transported to
an area and it will eventually be deposited. However, the layer
of that material will become thinner as the amount of material
lessens away from the source.
 Often, coarser-grained material can no longer be transported
to an area because the transporting medium has insufficient
energy to carry it to that location. In its place, the particles
that settle from the transporting medium will be finer-grained,
and there will be a lateral transition from coarser- to finer-
grained material. The lateral variation in sediment within a
stratum is known as sedimentary facies.
 If sufficient sedimentary material is available, it will be
deposited up to the limits of the sedimentary basin. Often, the
sedimentary basin is within rocks that are very different from
the sediments that are being deposited, in which the lateral
limits of the sedimentary layer will be marked by an abrupt
change in rock type.
SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF THE
PRINCIPLE OF LATERAL CONTINUITY
 INCLUSIONS OF IGNEOUS
ROCKS
 Melt inclusions are small parcels or "blobs" of molten
rock that are trapped within crystals that grow in the
magmas that form igneous rocks. In many respects
they are analogous to fluid inclusions. Melt inclusions
are generally small - most are less than 100
micrometers across (a micrometer is one thousandth
of a millimeter, or about 0.00004 inches).
Nevertheless, they can provide an abundance of
useful information. Using microscopic observations
and a range of chemical microanalysis techniques
geochemists and igneous petrologists can obtain a
range of useful information from melt inclusions.
 Two of the most common uses of melt inclusions are to study the
compositions of magmas present early in the history of specific magma
systems. This is because inclusions can act like "fossils" - trapping and
preserving these early melts before they are modified by later igneous
processes. In addition, because they are trapped at high pressures many
melt inclusions also provide important information about the contents of
volatile elements (such as H2O, CO2, S and Cl) that drive explosive
volcanic eruptions.

 Sorby (1858) was the first to document microscopic melt inclusions in

crystals. The study of melt inclusions has been driven more recently by the
development of sophisticated chemical analysis techniques. Scientists
from the former Soviet Union lead the study of melt inclusions in the
decades after World War II (Sobolev and Kostyuk, 1975), and developed
methods for heating melt inclusions under a microscope, so changes could
be directly observed.

 Although they are small, melt inclusions may contain a number of different
constituents, including glass (which represents magma that has been
quenched by rapid cooling), small crystals and a separate vapor-rich
bubble. They occur in most of the crystals found in igneous rocks and are
common in the minerals quartz, feldspar, olivine and pyroxene. The
formation of melt inclusions appears to be a normal part of the
crystallization of minerals within magmas, and they can be found in both
volcanic and plutonic rocks.
 Multiple melt inclusions in an olivine crystal. Individual
inclusions are oval or round in shape and consist of clear
glass, together with a small round vapor bubble and in some
cases a small square spinel crystal. The black arrow points to
one good example, but there are several others. The
occurrence of multiple inclusions within a single crystal is
relatively common.
 INCLUDED FRAGMENTS
 The law of included fragments is a method
of relative dating in geology. Essentially,
this law states that clasts in a rock are older
than the rock itself.
 One example of this is a xenolith, which is a
fragment of country rock that fell into
passing magma as a result of stomping.
Another example is a derived fossil, which is
a fossil that has been eroded from an older
bed and redeposit into a younger one.
 ABSOLUTE DATING
 is the process of determining an age on a
specified chronology in
archaeology and geology. Some scientists
prefer the terms chronometric or calendar
dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies
an unwarranted certainty of accuracy.
 Absolute dating provides a numerical age or
range in contrast with relative dating which
places events in order without any measure
of the age between events.
 In archaeology, absolute dating is usually based on the physical,
chemical, and life properties of the materials of artifacts,
buildings, or other items that have been modified by humans
and by historical associations with materials with known dates
(coins and written history). Techniques include tree rings in
timbers, radiocarbon dating of wood or bones, and trapped
charge dating methods such as thermo luminescence dating of
glazed ceramics. Coins found in excavations may have their
production date written on them, or there may be written
records describing the coin and when it was used, allowing the
site to be associated with a particular calendar year.
 In historical geology, the primary methods of absolute dating
involve using the radioactive decay of elements trapped in
rocks or minerals, including isotope systems from very young
(radiocarbon dating with 14
 C) to systems such as uranium-lead dating that allow acquisition
of absolute ages for some of the oldest rocks on earth.
 “THE TRILOBITE
FOSSIL IS 489
MILLION YEARS OLD.”
 RADIOMETRIC TECHNIQUES
 RADIOCARBON DATING
• LIMITATIONS
 POTASSIUM-ARGON DATING
 LIMINESCENCE DATING
 THERMO LUMINESCENCE
 OPTICALLY STIMULATED LUMINESCENCE (OSL)
 DENDROCHRONOLOGY
 AMINO ACID DATING
 RADIOMETRIC
TECHNIQUES
 Radiometric dating is based on the known and
constant rate of decay of radioactive isotopes into
their radiogenic daughter isotopes. Particular isotopes
are suitable for different applications due to the type
of atoms present in the mineral or other material and
its approximate age. For example, techniques based
on isotopes with half lives in the thousands of years,
such as Carbon-14, cannot be used to date materials
that have ages on the order of billions of years, as
the detectable amounts of the radioactive atoms and
their decayed daughter isotopes will be too small to
measure within the uncertainty of the instruments.
 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. 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.

 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 carbon-14 in organic material, scientists can determine

the date of death of the organic matter in an artifact or Eco fact.
• LIMITATIONS
 The relatively short half-life of carbon-14, 5,730 years, makes the
reliable only up to about 75,000 years. The technique often cannot
pinpoint the date of an archeological site better than historic records,
but is highly effective for precise dates when calibrated with other
dating techniques such as tree-ring dating.
 An additional problem with carbon-14 dates from archeological sites 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.
 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.
 LUMINESCENCE DATING
 refers to a group of methods of determining how
long ago mineral grains were last exposed to
sunlight or sufficient heating. It is useful to
geologists and archaeologists who want to know
when such an event occurred. It uses various
methods to stimulate and measure luminescence
 It includes techniques such as optically
stimulated luminescence (OSL), infrared
stimulated luminescence (IRSL), and thermo
luminescence (TL). "Optical dating" typically
refers to OSL and IRSL, but not TL.
 THERMO
LUMINESCENCE
 Thermo luminescence 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.
 Radiation levels do not remain constant over time. Fluctuating levels
can skew results – for example, if an item went through several high
radiation eras, thermo luminescence 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, Thermo luminescence 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 confirm the antiquity of an
item.
 OPTICALLY STIMULATED
LUMINESCENCE (OSL)
 Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating
constrains the time at which sediment was last exposed
to light. During sediment transport, exposure to sunlight
'zeros' the luminescence signal. Upon burial, the
sediment accumulates a luminescence signal as natural
ambient radiation gradually ionizes the mineral grains.
 Careful sampling under dark conditions allows the
sediment to be exposed to artificial light in the laboratory
which releases the OSL signal. The amount of
luminescence released is used to calculate the equivalent
dose (De) that the sediment has acquired since
deposition, which can be used in combination with the
dose rate (Dr) to calculate the age.
 DENDROCHRONOLOGY
 Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method
of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree rings, also
known as growth rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at
which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the
exact calendar year.
 Dendrochronology has three main areas of application:
paleoecology, where it is used to determine certain aspects of
past ecologies (most prominently climate); archaeology, where
it is used to date old buildings, etc.; and radiocarbon dating,
where it is used to calibrate radiocarbon ages (see below).
 In some areas of the world, it is possible to date wood back a
few thousand years, or even many thousands. Currently, the
maximum for fully anchored chronologies is a little over 11,000
years from present.
The growth rings of a tree at Bristol Zoo,
England. Each ring represents one year;
the outside rings, near the bark, are the
youngest.
 AMINO ACID DATING
 Amino acid dating is a dating technique used to estimate the
age of a specimen in paleobiology, archaeology, forensic
science, taphonomy, sedimentary geology and other fields.
This technique relates changes in amino acid molecules to
the time elapsed since they were formed. All biological
tissues contain amino acids. All amino acids except glycine
(the simplest one) are optically active, having an asymmetric
carbon atom. This means that the amino acid can have two
different configurations, "D" or "L" which are mirror images
of each other.
 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 to L moves from a value near 0
towards an equilibrium value near 1, a process called
racemization. Thus, measuring the ratio of D to L in a sample
enables one to estimate how long ago the specimen died.
THE QUESTION…

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

RELATIVE DATING AND ABSOLUTE
DATING?
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING! 