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Old 12-26-2013, 08:29 PM   #5
RonRagusa
Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 824
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Re: Empty Space, Soo and the The Word

Quote:
Ewen Ebsworth wrote: View Post
Carbon-dating doesn`t give accurate readings of the age of the earth because of the rapidity of the rate of decay in Carbon 14. Due to the rate of the half-life (5,736 years) there would be no C-14 after about 50,000 years. Also plants discriminate against C-14 and do not absorb as much of it thus plant fossils do not give accurate readings and then there is the fact that the levels of C-14 in the atmosphere has not been constant, the Industrial Revolution for example produced a massive amount of C-12 through the burning of fossil fuels, which depleted the amount of C-14. Due to the fact that the earth`s magnetic field is weakening, more C-14 is being produced now. These all have effects on the measurement of C-14 in things.
Radiometric dating has long since added other isotopes with much longer half lives than C-14. An introduction to radiometric dating can be found here.

Ron

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