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Relative dating determines the age of rocks or fossils by comparing their positions in rock layers, assuming deeper layers are older. Methods include stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and cross-dating. Absolute dating determines exact numerical ages using radiometric dating techniques like radiocarbon dating, which measures radioactive decay of isotopes like carbon-14. Other methods are amino acid dating, dendrochronology, and thermoluminescence. Absolute dating is more precise than relative dating as it provides specific numerical ages rather than just relative positions in geological time.

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55 views2 pages

Group 10B

Relative dating determines the age of rocks or fossils by comparing their positions in rock layers, assuming deeper layers are older. Methods include stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and cross-dating. Absolute dating determines exact numerical ages using radiometric dating techniques like radiocarbon dating, which measures radioactive decay of isotopes like carbon-14. Other methods are amino acid dating, dendrochronology, and thermoluminescence. Absolute dating is more precise than relative dating as it provides specific numerical ages rather than just relative positions in geological time.

Uploaded by

Kate Ashley Hugo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Different Methods of

Determining the Age of


Stratified Rocks
Geological specimens that are unearthed need to be assigned an appropriate
age. To find their age, two major geological dating methods are used. These are called
relative and absolute dating.

The main difference between absolute and relative dating is that the absolute
dating is a technique to determine the numerical age of a rock or a fossil whereas the
relative dating is a technique that determines the relative age. Furthermore, absolute
dating can be done with the use of radiometric dating while relative age is determined
with respect to other layers.

Absolute dating and relative dating are two techniques used in geology to
evaluate the age and the period of a fossil or rock.

What is Relative Dating

Relative dating is the technique used to determine the age by comparing the
historical remaining to the nearby layers. It is a less advanced technique when
compared to absolute dating. Some methods used in relative dating are stratigraphy,
biostratigraphy, and cross dating.

1. Stratigraphy: This technique assumes that the lowest layer is the oldest while
the topmost layer is the youngest layer. It is one of the oldest methods of relative
dating.

2. Biostratigraphy: In this technique, the faunal deposits such as fossils of dead


animals are used to establish a strategy for dating. It is an extended version of
the stratigraphy.

3. Cross dating: In this method, the fossils of one layer are compared with another
layer with known dating.

What is Absolute Dating

In geology, absolute dating is a technique that determines the exact numerical


age of a historical remaining. Since it evaluates the exact age of the sample, absolute
ageing is also called numerical dating. The four techniques used in absolute dating
are radiometric dating, amino acid dating, dendrochronology, and thermo
luminescence.

1. Radiometric dating: It determines the age of the sample by measuring the


amount of a particular radioactive isotope present in the sample. The age can be
determined by the rate of decay of that particular isotope. The type of radioactive
isotope used depends on the type of sample. One of the most popular and widely
used types of radioactive isotope in this type of techniques is the carbon-14.

2. Amino acid dating: The change in the protein content of a biological sample can
be used to determine the age. A particular form of a living being may have a
defined protein content in their bodies that deteriorates with time.

3. Dendrochronology: The number of annual growth rings of a dicot is used in this


technique to determine the age of the tree.

4. Thermoluminescence: This technique determines the final period during which


the object absorbs light, emitting electrons. The age is determined with respect
to the emissions.

Scientists can learn the age of a rock by counting the number of parent and
daughter atoms. A half-life is the time needed for one-half of the parent atoms to turn
into daughter atoms. Different atoms have different half-lives. Some have halflives
are more than 4 billion years; others have half-lives of only 6,000 years. Scientists
figure out which atom would be best to use to determine the exact age of a rock.

The atoms of some chemical elements have different forms, called isotopes.
These break down over time in a process scientists call radioactive decay. Each
isotope is identified with what is called a ‘mass number’.

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