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Dating Methods:: Establishing The Timeline of The Life On Earth

This document discusses methods used by geologists to date rocks and establish timelines of life on Earth. It describes two main types of dating methods: relative dating and absolute dating. Relative dating involves analyzing rock formations and fossils to determine the relative order of geological events, but does not provide specific numerical dates. Absolute dating methods, such as radiometric dating, can provide approximate numerical ages by measuring the radioactive decay of isotopes in rocks. Index fossils are also used to correlate fossil-bearing rock layers to specific periods in Earth's geological timescale.

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Jimkel Dagmil Placio
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260 views19 pages

Dating Methods:: Establishing The Timeline of The Life On Earth

This document discusses methods used by geologists to date rocks and establish timelines of life on Earth. It describes two main types of dating methods: relative dating and absolute dating. Relative dating involves analyzing rock formations and fossils to determine the relative order of geological events, but does not provide specific numerical dates. Absolute dating methods, such as radiometric dating, can provide approximate numerical ages by measuring the radioactive decay of isotopes in rocks. Index fossils are also used to correlate fossil-bearing rock layers to specific periods in Earth's geological timescale.

Uploaded by

Jimkel Dagmil Placio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dating methods:

Establishing the timeline of


the life on Earth
To understand the evolution of
Earth, dating methods are used to
reconstruct the history of rocks,
minerals, and other materials
found on earth. Geologists use
two types of dating methods:
Relative dating

Absolute dating
Relative dating

Relative dating is a method used to


determine the relative order of geological
events. This is done through stratigraphy
(succession of rocks) where the order of
rock formations correlates to geological
time.
The topmost layer suggests the most recent. In
like manner, the oldest rocks understood to be
at the bottom

This method does not provide actual numeral


dates for the rocks, but all are just estimates
based on the profile of the strata which
includes chemical composition, rock type,
and presence of organisms.
Throughout the history of Earth, many organisms
have flourished and disappeared. However,
their remains or fossils were preserved in some
sedimentary rocks. The presence of fossils helps
geologists figure out the date of rocks by means
of correlation. They use index fossils to establish
geological timescales of a rocks by matching
the fossil with the established period of its
existence.
For example, using the index fossils
shown in figure, if the fossils of
trilobites were found embedded in
a certain layer of rocks, there is a
possibility that the rock existed
somewhere between 542 and 250
million years ago.
Since the formation of life on Earth, many
forms of organisms evolved from a single-
celled organism. Scientist were able to
establish the geological sequence of
certain fossils that lived on Earth, index
fossils serve as a guide in determining
geological timescale of Earth.
In the late 17th century, the principle
of geological timescales was
introduced by Nicholas Steno (1638-
!686), saying that each layer of rock
could represent a “slice” of time.
Over the course of time, ay
geologists used Steno’s principle,
and by the 19th century.
Earth’s history was defined more
precisely. Geologist agreed that if
two strata found in distant places
have the same fossils, they could
have been laid down in the same
geological time period.
Absolute dating
 Absolute dating methods can tell which sediments
were deposited first and also the approximate age
of the specimen. The most used and accepted form
of absolute dating is radioactive decay dating. Most
absolute thing makes use of radiometric methods,
wherein radioactive minerals are used to compare
the age of rocks.
Isotopes, which are present in
radioactive elements, breakdown at
a constant rare, these rates of decay
are known, so if you are able to
measure the parent and daughter
isotopes in rocks, you can calculate
when the rocks are formed.

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