Geologists frequently utilize radiometric dating techniques to analyze the age of fossils, which are based on the natural radioactive decay of specific elements like potassium and carbon.
- Radiocarbon: 1–70,000 years
- Uranium-Lead: 10,000–billion years
- Absolute dating and relative dating are the two basic techniques for estimating the age of a fossil.
- By comparing a fossil with related rocks and fossils from same time period, relative dating is performed to determine the approximate age of the fossil. This is known as relative dating.
- Absolute dating can be done by measuring the decay of isotopes within the fossil or rocks, to estimate the exact age of a fossil.
- The radioactive materials present in nearby rocks and fossils are used for absolute dating. These radioactive materials essentially function as a geological clock, revealing a fossil's precise age.
- Isotopes typically "degrade" with time at a predictable, steady rate.
- Hence, the age of the specimen can be calculated by comparing the amount of the original parent isotope to the amount of the daughter isotope it decays into.
Therefore, relative dating can be used to estimate the ages of other fossils.
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