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Originally Posted by Beau Perkins  Could be. I question the accuracy of carbon dating. I am completely confident it is not 4000 years old or what ever creationist claim. |
Beau: carbon dating has never been used to determine the age of the earth. It's only good out to about 50,000 years.
Other forms of radiometric dating, however, are very accurate -
typically potassium-argon.
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Radiometric dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates.[1] It is the principal source of information about the absolute age of rocks and other geological features, including the age of the Earth itself, and can be used to date a wide range of natural and man-made materials. Among the best-known techniques are radiocarbon dating, potassium-argon dating and uranium-lead dating. By allowing the establishment of geological timescales, it provides a significant source of information about the ages of fossils and the deduced rates of evolutionary change. Radiometric dating is also used to date archaeological materials, including ancient artifacts.
Different methods of radiometric dating vary in the timescale over which they are accurate and the materials to which they can be applied.
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