Fun facts about radiometric dating

Does radiometric dating prove the age of the Earth?

Contrary to the impression that we are given, radiometric dating does not prove that the Earth is millions of years old. The vast age has simply been assumed. 2 The calculated radiometric ‘ages’ depend on the assumptions that are made.

What would our geologist think if the date from the lab?

What would our geologist think if the date from the lab were less than 30 million years, say 10. 1 ± 1. 8 million years? No problem. Would he query the dating method, the chronometer? No. He would again say that the calculated age did not represent the time when the rock solidified.

What was the problem with radiometric dating of Mt St Helens?

Return to text. This argument was used against creationist work that exposed problems with radiometric dating. Laboratory tests on rock formed from the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens gave ‘ages’ of millions of years. Critics claimed that ‘old’ crystals contained in the rock contaminated the result.

Why is Townsvilles geology not suitable for radiometric dating?

Radiometric dates are only accepted if they agree with what geologists already believe the age should be. Townsville geology is dominated by a number of prominent granitic mountains and hills. However, these are isolated from each other, and the area lacks significant sedimentary strata.

Does radiometric dating prove millions of years old?

Many accept radiometric dating methods as proof that the earth is millions of years old, in contrast to the biblical timeline. Mike Riddle exposes the unbiblical assumptions used in these calculations. The presupposition of long ages is an icon and foundational to the evolutionary model.

How is the age of the Earth determined?

The same techniques of radiometric dating have been used on those rocks. All the data from Earth and beyond has led to the estimated age of 4.5 billion years for our planet. The age of rocks is determined by radiometric dating, which looks at the proportion of two different isotopes in a sample.

Does radioisotope dating prove the oldest Earth?

Proponents of evolution publicize radioisotope dating as a reliable and consistent method for obtaining absolute ages of rocks and the age of the earth. This apparent consistency in textbooks and the media has convinced many Christians to accept an old earth (4.6 billion years old).

How do scientists measure the age of rocks?

We are told that scientists use a technique called radiometric dating to measure the age of rocks. We are also told that this method very reliably and consistently yields ages of millions to billions of years, thereby establishing beyond question that the earth is immensely old – a concept known as deep time.

Originally published in Creation 23, no 3 (June 2001): 24. Is this dating failure from Mount St Helens an isolated case of radioisotope dating giving wrong results for rocks of known age? Certainly not!

Is radiometric dating reliable?

Is radiometric dating a reliable way to determine rock age?

Radiometric Dating Radiometric dating is not a reliable way to determine the age of a rock. Perhaps the best defense of radiometric dating we have ever seen is An Essay on Radiometric Datingby Jonathon Woolf. 1It is worth examining because Woolf does a much better than average job of presenting the evolutionists’ arguments.

Do radiometric dates always agree with other dates?

When they are, the dates almost always agree within the range of expected error. In cases where the dates don’t agree, it’s always been found that some natural factor was present which selectively affected one or the other dating methodbeing used. 19 In other words, radiometric dates always agree with other dating methods—except when they don’t.

What does Woolf say about the reliability of radiometric dates?

Inconsistencies In the second-to-last paragraph of his essay, Woolf says, Further, radiometric dates can be checked by other dating techniques. When they are, the dates almost always agree within the range of expected error.

Why do Geologists use radiometric decay dates?

Geologists use these dates to further define the boundaries of the geologic periods shown on the geologic time scale. Radiometric decay occurs when the nucleus of a radioactive atom spontaneously transforms into an atomic nucleus of a different, more stable isotope.