PowerPoint Lesson
 Carbon-14 Dating

PowerPoint Lesson
 Dating Fossils and Rocks

Geochronology by CreationWiki

Creationist Perspectives on Age Dating

The RATE Group Research

Secular Resources

Young Earth Perspectives

Old Earth Perspectives

Gen 1:5 - And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day

 

Radioisotope Age-dating Set This radioisotope age dating book and DVD set by the RATE group is a compendium every creationist should have in their library.

Many people believe the Biblical chronology must be erroneous because the scientific community claims the earth is much older.  Even young earth creationists tend to assume the earth is possibly older than 6000 years due to radiocarbon dating.  Before making such compromises, lets examine age dating techniques and the assumptions made by scientists who use these methods.    

Radiocarbon or Carbon-14 Dating

'''Radiocarbon dating''' (C-14) is a dating technique used to deduce the approximate age of organic remains by measuring the quantity of C-14 in the sample and comparing them with current atmospheric levels.

C-14 is an unstable form of carbon produced in the atmosphere when cosmic rays strike N-14. The C-14 produced from this bombardment is then incorporated into plants as C02 during photosynthesis, and is transferred through the food chain to all organisms on earth. C-14 then degrades back into N-14 at a quantifiable rate allowing the sample to be dated based on the amount of unstable carbon remaining in the sample.

Using radiocarbon for dating is reliant upon the assumption that C-14 production in the atmosphere has been constant during the history of life on earth. If the earth is billions of years old, then the rate of production and decay should have reached steady-state a long time ago. It is assumed that these rates should be at equilibrium, but today we know that the rate of C-14 production exceeds the rate of decay by as much as 25%. This increase is attributed to the recent industrial revolution, and believed to be primarily due to atmospheric nuclear testing. However, it is assumed that before the industrial revolution, the rates should have been at steady-state. Therefore to correct for the increased rate of C-14 production, a sample is used from early in the 19th century as a standardizing reference.

The problem with C-14 dating:

 If the rate of C-14 production in the atmosphere was less in the past than it is today, then samples would seem excessively old.  From Biblical references and modern data there is good evidence that our atmosphere has changed dramatically. The Bible says there was no rainbow before the flood, which must mean the atmosphere was altered significantly by the flood.  We also know the atmosphere continues to decay.  Today we have evidence of global warming, and holes in the ozone layer; both indicating a change in density that could cause higher rates of C-14 production. Belief in an old earth has led to assumptions that C-14 production and decay should be at stead-state. Radiocarbon is therefore being used for dating when we simply have no way to determine what the rates of C-14 production were in the past. One thing we do know for sure, is that C-14 is being produced at higher rate today, and it is assumed that this increase began only recently

 

Geochronology
 by CreationWiki

 

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