A new OLD whats-it ?

[isawlogs]

Furby

    What are the flaws .. I am one of um that dont know  :P :P

[Ianab]

Carbon dating only works out to about 50,000 years.

The way it works is that a certain % of the carbon floating around is a radioactive isotope of carbon. I think it's formed natually by radiation in the upper atmosphere. So when something that contains carbon, like a piece of wood, gets buried the radiactive part of the carbon slowly decays away from the time it was locked up. By comparing the ratio of normal carbon and carbon isotope, you can make an educated guess how old something is.

The main flaws are

After 50,000 years most of the carbon13 has decayed away, so there is nothing left to measure.

You have to assume that the amount of carbon13 in the atmosphere has allways been the same, but you cant prove that. So it's not 100% accurate, but it does give a good guide as to wether something is 100 years, 1,000 years or 10,000 years old.

With the really old fossils and rocks I believe they can look at other radioactive isotopes and use them to judge age. Also they can look at fossils in rocks above and below the sample and see what is present. The types of fossils give and indication of the age as well.

It's not an exact science though, but it does let them put a timeline together.

Cheers

Ian

[Furby]

Marcel, my post was sort of in a way a smart butt remark.
It really all comes down to what you belive as "facts" are "found" to support both sides.

[isawlogs]

 Furby , I did not take it to be a smart butt remark .. I did not know there was issues with carbon dating ... I learned another thing here today .  :P

  That peice of wood is still old . Really old .  :D :D :D

   

[farmerdoug]

We may not know how truely old it is but I sure think that piece of wood would ruin a saw blade in a hurry. ;D

Farmerdoug

[SwampDonkey]

Now in all this confusion, I still didn't get the story on this fossilized tree. You can't just plunk this thing down and simply ask whazit, can ya?  It came a long way from Chelsea Quebec, we know that much. : :D