REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Science and carbon dating ancient sites....

POSTED BY: KANEMAN
UPDATED: Friday, January 7, 2011 06:31
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 968
PAGE 1 of 1

Thursday, January 6, 2011 4:14 PM

KANEMAN


If I grabbed some old rocks, went out into the wilderness, made a structure, left it for fifty years, went back "discovered" it...would scientists date it to the age of the rock?

What I'm getting at is I'm watching Ancient Aliens on History channel...they keep saying "scientists" have dated the site...usually by a rock ...as......

But I'm sure if the corner stone of my home was dated...it would be far older than 1911.....know what I'm saying? Aren't all rocks really old? And even if using a bone at the site, how do they know the bone came from the time and not that the structure was built on the bone because they did not have carbon dating or desire to see the value in an old bone..thus left a much older bone at a much younger site.....

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 6, 2011 4:16 PM

KANEMAN


using my nookcolor...hard as hell to type..hope you understand that....

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 6, 2011 4:23 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!


Carbon dating isn't used on rock. It's used on organic material. My guess is that what's being C dated is the wood which was used in the support of the structure.


" I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. "

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 6, 2011 4:45 PM

BYTEMITE


^That. Generally, there'll be some organics around the structure, grass or leaves or some such that'll be within the vicinity of the age of construction, possibly just UNDER the structure.

There are problems, though, if what you're trying to determine the age of is older than about 50,000 years, but there's still ways you can figure it out. The first is by nearby fossils, if you can find any, and the second is by radio-isotope dating igneous layers around the buried subject of interest to get lower and upper time limits.

All rocks can be dated back as old as when they first cooled as igneous rocks; there's all these radio-isotopes floating around in the fluid mixture, and when the mixture cools, some quantity of radio-isotopes get trapped in predictable amounts. Then you figure out how much decayed from the time the rocks set.

Sometimes there aren't any igneous formations in the vicinity of the layer you're looking at, but it helps to remember that different layers of rock occur as a result of regional conditions, and people can find ways to date a specific layer based on other parts of the region (near igneous rocks, near where they found some fossils). So knowing the name and approximate age of the formation in which you discovered the find also helps.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 6, 2011 6:25 PM

DREAMTROVE


there are lotsof radioactive dating done from rocks.

if.a show has aliens in it, anything is fair game.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, January 7, 2011 6:31 AM

MAGONSDAUGHTER


The world is only 4000 years old. Scientists are just silly.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
Thu, May 16, 2024 01:22 - 3695 posts
End of the world Peter Zeihan
Thu, May 16, 2024 00:11 - 34 posts
Russia Invades Ukraine. Again
Wed, May 15, 2024 23:29 - 6511 posts
Russian losses in Ukraine
Wed, May 15, 2024 22:42 - 1094 posts
Elections; 2024
Wed, May 15, 2024 22:07 - 2482 posts
I'm surprised there's not an inflation thread yet
Wed, May 15, 2024 21:48 - 767 posts
human actions, global climate change, global human solutions
Wed, May 15, 2024 16:37 - 852 posts
Is Elon Musk Nuts?
Wed, May 15, 2024 16:08 - 367 posts
China
Wed, May 15, 2024 15:44 - 458 posts
Microsoft and Amazon (and now Google) shedding jobs like a Covid Jabbed Victim sheds Covid
Wed, May 15, 2024 14:31 - 56 posts
Galaxy Day? Or Universe Day?
Wed, May 15, 2024 14:19 - 4 posts
Punishing Russia With Sanctions
Wed, May 15, 2024 12:45 - 509 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL