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Evolution
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Alfred R. Wallace
© Linnean Society of London

Dating of Fossils
Dating is not necessary to demonstrate that evolution is a fact. Chronological sequence is all that is
really required. However, human beings love to see factual precision, and we want to know how old
something is.
Please remember that all dating methods, even those termed "absolute," are subject to margins of
error. We say the Earth is 4.56 ± 0.02 billion years old. That is a very small amount of possible error range.
There are 20 methods shown here. Modern studies almost always use two or more methods to confirm
dating work and to build confidence in the results obtained.

Scientists use two kinds of dating techniques to work out the age
of rocks and fossils. The first method is called relative dating. This
considers the positions of the different rocks in sequence (in relation
to each other) and the different types of fossil that are found in them.
The second method is called absolute dating and is done by analyzing
the amount of radioactive decay in the minerals of the rocks.

How to date a fossil (without spending a fortune for dinner and flowers) Have you
wondered how the age of fossils are determined? There are several different methods scientists use to
determine age of fossils. Sometimes, it is possible to determine age directly from the fossil. Many times
however, fossils are too old to have their age directly measured. Instead, age can be determined from
radioactive elements occurring within rock found in association with the fossils.

General Dating Concepts

I. Relative dating: determines if something is older or
younger, but can’t tell how much older or younger
 By relative dating, we mean that we determine the age of a fossil by looking at its relative
position in the stratigraphic record. This technique is often called stratigraphic dating. To use
relative dating, we look at the sediments above and below a fossil; this allows us to say that an
animal lived after one species (found in the rock below it), and before another species (found in
the rock above it).
  This often happens in paleontology. When we use relative dating on a fossil, only know that
the animal died between certain events. We cannot say exactly when it was born, or when the
species first appeared on earth. We can only say when it first appeared in the fossil record.
 An important tool in relative dating is the use of index fossils. Index fossils are fossils that
are commonly found and have a known range in the geologic record. For instance, trilobites are
an important index fossil. They first appeared during the Cambrian Period (570 to 500 million
years ago) and are found until the Middle Permian Period (about 265 million years ago). They
also went through a number of well-documented changes in their outward appearance, allowing
paleontologists to more accurately determine the age of the sediments they are found in, and to
use relative dating on other fossils found in the same stratigraphic layer.

II. Chronometric/Absolute dating: can tell how much

older/younger something is.

 Chronometric dating has revolutionized archaeology by allowing highly accurate dating of

historic artifacts and materials with a range of scientific techniques.

 Absolute dating is the process of determining an approximate computed age

in archaeology and geology. Some scientists prefer the
terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an unwarranted
certainty and precision. Absolute dating provides a computed numerical age in contrast
with relative dating which provides only an order of events.

Function
Chronometric dating, also known as chronometry or absolute dating, is any archaeological dating
method that gives a result in calendar years before the present time. Archaeologists and scientists use
absolute dating methods on samples ranging from prehistoric fossils to artifacts from relatively recent
history.
Features

Chronometric techniques include radiometric dating and radio-carbon dating, which both determine
the age of materials through the decay of their radioactive elements; dendrochronology, which dates events
and environmental conditions by studying tree growth rings; fluorine testing, which dates bones by
calculating their fluorine content; pollen analysis, which identifies the number and type of pollen in a sample
to place it in the correct historical period; and thermoluminescence, which dates ceramic materials by
measuring their stored energy.
History

Scientists first developed absolute dating techniques at the end of the 19th century. Before this,
archaeologists and scientists relied on deductive dating methods, such as comparing rock strata formations
in different regions. Chronometric dating has advanced since the 1970s, allowing far more accurate dating
of specimens.
 Radiometric (or radioactive) dating
This method is based upon radioactive decay. The spontaneous release of energy and/or particles
from the nucleus of an unstable atom (referred to as the parent ) into a stable atom (referred to as
the daughter ) is radioactive decay. This rate of decays occurs at a specific and constant rate. The
age of a rock can be determined by measuring the amount of the daughter product and adding that
to the amount of the remaining parent material.

There are four standards necessary for elements to be useful in radometric dating.
1. The numbers of parent atoms and daughter atoms must be measurable.
2. The parent element must decay rapidly enough to produce measurable amounts of the daughter
element, but measurable amounts of the parent element must also be present in the sample.
3. Little or no daughter element must have been present in the sample when it was formed.
4. The sample used must have been chemically isolated from outside chemical changes.

These systems meet the standards listed above. Half-life refers to the length of time required for 50% of
the parent material to decay into the daughter product.
 Uranium 235 to Lead 207 (half-life = 710,000,000 years)
 Uranium 238 to Lead 206 (half-life = 4,500,000,000 years)
  Thorium 232 to Lead 208 (half-life = 14,000,000,000 years)
 Rubidium 87 to Strontium 87 (half-life = 47,000,000,000 years) - this is the most common system
used for dating rocks older than 100 million years.
 Potassium 40 to Argon 40 (half-life = 1,300,000,000 years) - this method is very often used to date
rock less than 60 million years old.

Carbon 14 to Nitrogen 14 (half-life = 5,570 years)--- There are 3 forms (isotopes) of carbon occuring in
nature: Carbon 12 (accounts for 99%), Carbon 13 (accounts for 1%), and Carbon 14 (accounts for less than
1%). While alive, plants and animals incorporate these isotopes of carbon into their tissues at the ratio
found in the atmosphere. Upon death, the Carbon 14 in their tissues begins to decay. By measuring the
remaining amount of Carbon 14, the age of the fossil can be determined. This method can be used to date
material ranging in age from a few hundred years to about 50,000 years. The use of Carbon 14 permits the
determination of age directly a fossil. For fossils greater than 50,000 years old, the age of the fossil is found
indirectly by determing the age of the rock associated with the fossil. Carbon 14 dating has a dating range
of several hundred years before present to 50,000 years before present.

Kinds of Chronometric/Absolute dating

1. Radiometric Dating

Radiometric dating is based on the constant rate of decay of radioactive isotopes. Given an initial
and a present quantity of such an isotope and its half-life, the time elapsed may be calculated. Various
methods apply to different materials and timescales. If a very short period of time has passed, as measured
in number of half-lives, a particular technique will be less accurate and more susceptible to statistical
fluctuations in the inherently random decay events. If many half lives of the isotope of interest have passed,
too much of the sample may have decayed to provide an accurate reading.
a. Radiocarbon dating

One of the most widely used and well-known absolute dating techniques is carbon-14
(or radiocarbon) dating, which is used to date organic remains. This is a radiometric technique since it is
based on radioactive decay. Carbon-14 is an unstable isotope of normal carbon, carbon-12. Cosmic
radiation entering the earth’s atmosphere produces carbon-14, and plants take in carbon-14 as they fix
carbon dioxide. Carbon-14 moves up the food chain as animals eat plants and as predators eat other
animals. With death, the uptake of carbon-14 stops. Then this unstable isotope starts to decay into nitrogen-
14. It takes 5,730 years for half the carbon-14 to change to nitrogen; this is the half-life of carbon-14. After
another 5,730 years only one-quarter of the original carbon-14 will remain. After yet another 5,730 years
only one-eighth will be left. By measuring the proportion of carbon-14 in organic material, scientists can
determine the date of death of the organic matter in an artifact orecofact.
Limitations

Because the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years carbon dating is only reliable about up to 40,000
years, radiocarbon is less useful to date some recent sites. See radiocarbon dating. This technique usually
cannot pinpoint the date of a site better than historic records.

A further issue is known as the "old wood" problem. It is possible, particularly in dry, desert climates, for
organic materials such as from dead trees to remain in their natural state for hundreds of years before
people use them as firewood or building materials, after which they become part of the archaeological
record. Thus dating that particular tree does not necessarily indicate when the fire burned or the structure
was built. For this reason, many archaeologists prefer to use samples from short-lived plants for
radiocarbon dating. The development of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, which allows a date
to be obtained from a very small sample, has been very useful in this regard.
b. Potassium-argon dating
Other radiometric dating techniques are available for earlier periods. One of the most widely used
is potassium-argon dating (K-Ar dating). Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope of potassium that decays into
argon-40. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years, far longer than that of carbon-14, allowing much
older samples to be dated. Potassium is common in rocks and minerals, allowing many samples
of geochronological or archeological interest to be dated. Argon, a noble gas, is not commonly incorporated
into such samples except when produced in situ through radioactive decay. The date measured reveals the
last time that the object was heated past the closure temperature at which the trapped argon can escape
the lattice. K-Ar dating was used to calibrate the geomagnetic polarity time scale.

2. Thermoluminescence
Thermoluminesence testing also dates items to the last time they were heated. This technique is
based on the principle that all objects absorb radiation from the environment. This process frees electrons
within minerals that remain caught within the item. Heating an item to 500 degrees Celsius or higher
releases the trapped electrons, producing light. This light can be measured to determine the last time the
item was heated.
Limitations

Radiation levels do not remain constant over time. Fluctuating levels can skew results - for example,
if an item went through several high radiation eras, thermoluminesence will return an older date for the item.
Many factors can spoil the sample before testing as well, exposing the sample to heat or direct light may
cause some of the electrons to dissipate, causing the item to date younger. Because of these and other
factors, Thermoluminesence is at the most about 15% accurate. It cannot be used to accurately date a site
on its own. However, it can be used to authenticate an item as antiquity.

Other Chronometric/Absolute dating

1. Fission-track dating
Fission-track dating is based on the presence of Uranium 238 and Uranium 235 in the
sample to be tested. These two uranium isotopes always occur in the same ratio in nature. Uranium
238 will undergone spontaneous decay or fission. Each time this happens, a tiny damage track is
created in the surrounding material. Etching with acid enlarges the tracks allowing them to be seen
under a microscope and counted. However, Uranium 235 does not undergo spontaneous fission.
Uranium 235 can be induced to undergo fission by irradiating the sample with high energy neutrons
in a nuclear reactor. By counting the number of induced tracks and knowing the neutron dose, the
uranium content can be determined. From the ratio of natural fission tracks to induced fission tracks
and knowing the half-life of Uranium 238 (half-life = 4,500,000,000 years), the sample's age can be
determined.

2. Paleomagnetism
At the time of their formation, iron-bearing rocks and sediments may acquire a natural
remnant magnetism . This primary magnetism aligns parallel to the existing magnetic field of the
Earth. In a sense, a rock becomes a compass capturing its orientation to the Earth's magnetic field
in its structure.
The orientation of the magnetic field of the Earth at any point on Earth is specified by two
measurements: declination (direction) and inclination (plunge). The inclination varies from
horizontal at the equator to vertical at the poles. Today, the magnetic field is directed downward in
the northern hemisphere and upward in the southern hemisphere. Earth's magnetic field periodically
 reverses its polarity. During the time of reversed polarity, a compass needle would point south.
These reversals make excellent markers in the geologic record because they global in extend. The
age of these reversals can be determined by radiometric dating. The age of a fossil can be
determined by correlating the position of the strata of rock where it was found and where a reversal
occurs.

3. Amino-acid dating
Amino-acid dating is based upon the principle that amino acids which make up proteins
change when an organism dies. The proteins produced by an orgamism when it is alive almost
entirely consists of amino acids in a "left-handed" configuration. After death, amino acids begin to
invert to their "right-handed" configuration. This process is called racemization . In fossils, an
equilibrium ratio is eventually reached. The time needed to reach this equilibrium depends mainly
upon temperature and secondarily on the species of the organism. Once the absolute date for a
region is determined using radiometric dating and the temperature history of a region is established,
amino-acid dating can be used to determine the age of a fossil. In the example of marine mollusks,
the ratio for the amino acid isoleucine increases from nearly zero in modern shells to an equilibrium
value of 1.30 +/- 0.05. At 10 degrees centigrade, it takes about 2 million years to reach equilibrium.
At minus 10 degrees centigrade, it takes 20 million years to reach equilibrium.

New Methods of FOSSIL DATING

A Better Test
In the 1950s important advances were made in scientists' ability to date fossils accurately. While
radioactive dating techniques had been developed before 1950, the new radioactive-potassium dating
system devised during the decade was much more reliable.

Decaying Isotopes
Radioactive dating is possible because all naturally occurring material contains small amounts of
radioactive isotopes, which are maintained at a predictable ratio to nonradioactive elements in the same
material. When an animal dies, the nonradioactive traces remain stable during decay, but the radioactive
traces diminish at a steady rate over a very long period of time. Long after an organism's death, the amount
of radioactive element remaining in dead tissue can be carefully measured and compared to nonradioactive
material to determine how long it has been since the organism's death.

Carbon Dating
Standard radioactive dating processes such as carbon dating, discovered in 1948, will not work for
most fossils, though. Fossilized remains contain very little carbon, if any, from the original organism. The
only methods of dating fossils in the early 1950s were crude. A scientist might date a new specimen based
on knowledge of the age of other specimens in the area. Or the scientist might know how deep the new
fossil was when recovered and make an estimate about the age of the remains by guessing how long it took
layers of earth to form over it. Such estimates were known not to be very accurate.

Uranium Dating
A group of geologists and physicists at Berkeley were using radioactive dating to measure uranium
traces so they could determine the age of ancient rocks and fossils. The half-life of the uranium isotope (the
time it takes to lose half its radioactivity by conversion to lead) being measured is 4.5 billion years. This
system works well for dating ancient rock, but a method based on a quicker rate of disintegration had to be
found for dating more-recent formations, such as animal fossils, which are unlikely to be old enough for the
the uranium disintegration to be measurable.

Potassium Dating
The Berkeley group turned to radioactive potassium as a dating measure. Like radioactive uranium,
radioactive potassium is found in small amounts in rock. It forms argon (a gas) and has a half-life of only
1.31 billion years. So it was theoretically possible to measure the small amounts of radioactive potassium
converted to argon over a period of a few million years. The measurements were still difficult, but by using
very laborious extraction methods and a highly sensitive monitoring device called a mass spectrometer, the
Berkeley group succeeded in developing an acceptable method.
PILTDOWN MAN
In 1908 the fossilized remains of a man were tound in Piltdown, Sussex, in the south of England.
Because these fossils, which came to be called the Piltdown Man, were found near the remains of
mammals known to have lived in the Lower Pleistocene age (also known as the Ice Age), scientists, who
back then had no reliable method of fossi1 dating, assumed that the Piltdown Man was of that era himself.
Some scientists were dubious, but Piltdown advocates successfully argued that their man had lived
between 200,000 and 1 million years ago.

In 1952 scientists tested the Piltdown Man using the fluorine method of fossil dating. Fluorine
accumulates in fossils from groundwater at a predictable rate, so by measuring the fluorine content,
assumptions about age can be made. Modern scientists found that the jawbone of the Piltdown Man
contained bones of two different ages. X rays confirmed that the Piltdown Man's jaw had been altered within
the century. He was a hoax. His oldest parts were no more than 50,000 years old, making Piltdown a recent
link, and a scientifically insignificant one, in the chain of evolution.

TRIVIA:
Did you know that …. Earth's oldest living inhabitant "Methuselah" at 4,767 years,
has lived more than a millennium longer than any other tree. While this may be true, a shrub in Tasmania
could be 40,000 years old.

Reported by:
Mrs. Leonisa Manlapaz and
Ms. Imelda G. Yabut