Relative and Absolute Dating

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What is relative dating?

Back

Relative dating is a method used to determine the age of rocks and fossils in relation to one another, without providing a specific numerical age.

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What is absolute dating?

Back

Absolute dating is a technique used to determine the exact age of a rock or fossil, often using methods like radiometric dating.

Front

What is a half-life?

Back

A half-life is the time required for half of the parent isotope in a sample to decay into a daughter isotope.

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How old is the Earth?

Back

The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old.

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Which type of rock is most accurate for absolute dating?

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Igneous rock is most accurate for absolute dating because it forms from cooled magma and can contain radioactive isotopes.

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What are trace fossils?

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Trace fossils are geological records of biological activity, such as footprints, burrows, or feces, that provide information about how organisms moved and lived.

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What is the principle of superposition?

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The principle of superposition states that in undisturbed sedimentary rock layers, the oldest layers are at the bottom and the youngest are at the top.

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What is a parent isotope?

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A parent isotope is the original radioactive isotope that undergoes decay to form a daughter isotope.

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What is a daughter isotope?

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A daughter isotope is the product of the decay of a parent isotope.

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What is the significance of index fossils?

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Index fossils are fossils of organisms that were widespread but only existed for a short period of time, helping to date the rock layers in which they are found.