Fossils and Radiometric Dating

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life Fossil Formation Fossils: Evidence of Past Life  Fossils: remains or traces of prehistoric life. Only found in sedimentary rocks.  The type of fossil that is formed is determined by the conditions under which an organism died and how it was buried.

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life Fossil Formation  Unaltered Remains Fossils: Evidence of Past Life • Some remains of organisms—such as teeth, bones, and shells—may not have been altered, or may have changed hardly at all over time.

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life Fossil Formation Fossils: Evidence of Past Life  Altered Remains • remains of an organism that changed over time. • Types: petrified or turned to stone, molds, casts, Carbonization, or Amber

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life Fossil Formation Fossils: Evidence of Past Life  Indirect Evidence • Trace fossils are indirect evidence of prehistoric life. Like animal tracks, worm burroughs and gastroliths.  Conditions Favoring Preservation • Two conditions important for preservation: rapid burial and the possession of hard parts.

In the late 18th century an English engineer named William Smith found that fossil weren’t just randomly distributed throughout rock layers, but that each layer contained specific fossils that didn’t occur in layers above and below them. With Smith’s observation scientists came up with one of the most important principles in historical geology.

Fossils: Evidence of Past Life Fossils and Correlation Fossils: Evidence of Past Life  fossil succession: fossils succeed one another in a certain order. Any time period can be recognized by its fossils.  Index fossils: widespread geographically, are limited to a short span of geologic time, and occur in large numbers.

Overlapping Ranges of Fossils Makes no sense without caption in book

Fossils can also be used to interpret and describe ancient environments. Scientists can tell if there was a shallow sea, or the temperature of the water based on the organisms that were living there. While fossils are a good way to correlate or link existing rock formations around a region or around the world there is only one reliable way to get numerical dates of the past, that’s using radioactivity.

Dating with Radioactivity  Radioactivity: the spontaneous decay of unstable atomic nuclei.

Common Types of Radioactive Decay Makes no sense without caption in book

Dating with Radioactivity Half-Life Dating with Radioactivity  A half-life is the amount of time necessary for one-half of the nuclei in a sample to decay to a stable isotope.

Dating with Radioactivity Radiometric Dating Dating with Radioactivity  radioactive isotopes decay at a constant rate since their formation Radiometric dating: calculating the absolute ages of rocks and minerals that contain radioactive isotopes. Radiometric dating uses radioactive elements in minerals of rocks.

Dating with Radioactivity Radiometric Dating Dating with Radioactivity  As a radioactive isotope decays, atoms of the daughter product are formed and accumulate.

Let’s take Uranium for example Let’s take Uranium for example. When magma cools and uranium exists in this magma once the rock solidifies the uranium starts to decay. As the uranium decays, atoms of the daughter product are formed, and measurable amounts of lead eventually accumulate. Formation of rock 4.5 by 9 by 13.5 by 18 by 22.5 by *Uranium-238 has a half live of 4.5 billion years. Uranium-238 Lead-206

Other radioactive elements are also used to date rocks Other radioactive elements are also used to date rocks. Uranium-238, 235, Thorium-232, Rubidium-87, Potassium-40 are also used. An accurate radiometric date can be obtained only if the mineral remained in a closed system during the entire period since its formation.

Dating with Radioactivity Dating with Carbon-14 Dating with Radioactivity  Radiocarbon dating: determining age by comparing the amount of carbon-14 to the amount of carbon-12.  After death, the amount of carbon-14 gradually decreases. By comparing the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12, radiocarbon dates can be determined.

Since carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years, geologic events up to about 75,000 years ago can be dated using radiocarbon dating.  Radiocarbon dating: determining age by comparing the amount of carbon-14 to the amount of carbon-12.

Radiometric dating methods have produced thousands of dates for events in Earth’s history. Rocks formed on Earth have been dated to be as much as 4 billion years old. Meteorites have been dated at 4.6 billion years old.

Using Radiometric Methods to Help Date Sedimentary Rocks Makes no sense without caption in book

Radiometric dating has supported scientists like Hutton and Darwin who inferred that geologic time must be immense. Modern dating methods have proved that there has been enough time for the processes we observe to have accomplished tremendous tasks.