Yesterday there was news of a 3.3 million year old Australopithecus afarensis fossil from Ethiopia. I'm just curious as to how they ascertain the age. I know it's not carbon-14 dating, that's 2 orders of magnitude beyond its range. It's been a while since I learned about this stuff, so thanks for refreshing my memory.
2006-09-21 13:58:24 · 6 answers · asked by southeastside 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
They measure the decay of other radioactive elements, not carbon. The half life of carbon 14 is only 15,000 years or so. For anything older than that they measure for example, how uranium decays into lead. The article below may help.
2006-09-21 18:40:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
radioactive dating, using certian elements such as carbon-14, scientists are able to figure out how old a fossil was
2006-09-21 14:52:17 · answer #2 · answered by mcdonaldcj 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sending the Old fossil on a date with a Blonde, Brunette and a red head - he may react to one of them
2006-09-21 14:04:00 · answer #3 · answered by yscrk 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The site I use is match.com The old fossils don't have a picture there.
2006-09-21 14:03:54 · answer #4 · answered by Steve 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Looks like there's aluminum, chlorine, calcium & iodine dating...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmogenic_isotope#Applications_in_geology_listed_by_isotope
2006-09-21 14:09:00 · answer #5 · answered by tbom_01 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check it out on hhp://www.wikipwdia.org
2006-09-23 02:42:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋