Conversation with An Atheist
- Thread starter Wrangler
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- Feb 14, 2021
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I used to fully accept LONG TIME. Now, I lean toward the eye witness timeline. Did you reply to the post about the WWII plane found under 500 feet of ice?
Based on ice samples, the WWII plane was buried 10,000’s of years ago. There’s also volcanic rock that formed in our life time but radioactive dating puts it at millions of years ago.
So, the question becomes, if you can’t trust radioactive dating of known samples, how can you trust it for unknown samples?
Is radiometric dating accurate??
Radiometric dating is highly accurate and reliable for determining the age of rocks and minerals, with a standard margin of error typically ranging from less than 1% to a few percent when applied correctly.
How It Works
• Decay Rates: Radioactive isotopes (parent atoms) decay into stable elements (daughter atoms) at a constant, well-measured rate known as a half-life.
• Closed Systems: When minerals like zircon or volcanic rocks cool, they trap parent isotopes. By measuring the ratio of parent-to-daughter isotopes, scientists calculate how long ago the rock formed.
• Cross-Checking: Scientists increase accuracy by using multiple independent dating methods (such as Uranium-Lead, Potassium-Argon, and Rubidium-Strontium) on the same rock layers.
Why It Is Reliable
• Constant Rates: Extensive physical experiments (including tests by the National Institute of Standards and Technology) show that radioactive decay rates do not change under varying environmental conditions like pressure, temperature, or solar radiation.
• Known Standards: Methods are routinely tested and confirmed using materials of known historical or geological ages.
Limitations and Common Errors
Radiometric dating is not a one-size-fits-all tool and can yield incorrect results if misapplied:
• Mismatched Scales: Using an isotope with a long half-life (like Potassium-40, which takes 1.2 billion years) on a very young object (like a modern or decades-old rock) leads to massive margins of error.
• Open Systems: If heat, groundwater, or pressure causes parent or daughter isotopes to leak in or out of the rock over time, the "clock" can be skewed.
• Sedimentary Rock Limits: Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock, which cannot be dated directly with long-term radiometric methods. Instead, scientists use bracketing—dating volcanic ash or igneous layers above and below the sedimentary layer.
Radiometric dating is highly accurate and reliable for determining the age of rocks and minerals, with a standard margin of error typically ranging from less than 1% to a few percent when applied correctly.
How It Works
• Decay Rates: Radioactive isotopes (parent atoms) decay into stable elements (daughter atoms) at a constant, well-measured rate known as a half-life.
• Closed Systems: When minerals like zircon or volcanic rocks cool, they trap parent isotopes. By measuring the ratio of parent-to-daughter isotopes, scientists calculate how long ago the rock formed.
• Cross-Checking: Scientists increase accuracy by using multiple independent dating methods (such as Uranium-Lead, Potassium-Argon, and Rubidium-Strontium) on the same rock layers.
Why It Is Reliable
• Constant Rates: Extensive physical experiments (including tests by the National Institute of Standards and Technology) show that radioactive decay rates do not change under varying environmental conditions like pressure, temperature, or solar radiation.
• Known Standards: Methods are routinely tested and confirmed using materials of known historical or geological ages.
Limitations and Common Errors
Radiometric dating is not a one-size-fits-all tool and can yield incorrect results if misapplied:
• Mismatched Scales: Using an isotope with a long half-life (like Potassium-40, which takes 1.2 billion years) on a very young object (like a modern or decades-old rock) leads to massive margins of error.
• Open Systems: If heat, groundwater, or pressure causes parent or daughter isotopes to leak in or out of the rock over time, the "clock" can be skewed.
• Sedimentary Rock Limits: Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock, which cannot be dated directly with long-term radiometric methods. Instead, scientists use bracketing—dating volcanic ash or igneous layers above and below the sedimentary layer.