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41 - 51 Radiometry and geophysics
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Radiometric measuring methods are frequently used for determining the age of rock formations or organic samples. This method utilizes the fact that some materials contain or could have contained unstable radioactive isotopes.
Some isotopes are unstable or radioactive, meaning that they decay, sooner or later forming other daughter isotopes. It is possible to measure the relationship between the daughter and parent isotope. This relationship allows us to draw conclusions regarding the radiometric age of the specimen in question based on the half-life* of the parent isotope. Moreover, the radiation may cause during such decay processes some visible radiation damage (radiation halos and/or fission tracks), which can also be age-interpreted.
It is necessary to make three assumptions if radiometric measurements are to make sense:
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| a) |
The half-life must remain constant over the entire decay period.
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| b) |
No parent or daughter isotopes should have left the probe or been added.
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| c) |
The initial conditions of the probe must be known.
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Based on the initial conditions assumed under (c), it is possible to calculate a radiometric age of many million years for most geological strata. However, systematic deviations occur when the same material is analyzed with different methods. Some findings indicate that accelerated radioactive decay may have occurred some times on our Earth. So (a) is not satisfied.
Since the majority of non-radiometric age determination methods in geology, paleontology and geophysics reveal ages which are more recent by several orders of magnitude, it is necessary to consider critically the radiometric data. The magnitude of erroneous estimates in this sector of science is shown by the lava on Hawaii which can be proven to be 200 years old; however, it is radio dated at several million years (1) (2).
* The half-life of a certain radioactive material is the period of time to decay to half of its initial value:
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References:
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| (1) |
G.B. Dalrymple, The Age of the Earth, Stanford University Press, 1991, page 91.
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| (2) |
Andrew A. Snelling, "Excess Argon": The "Achilles´ Heel" of Potassium-Argon and Argon-Argon Dating of Volcanic Rocks, Institute for Creation Research, 1999, http://www.icr.org/article/excess-argon-achillies-heel-potassium-argon-dating (Note: Although the spelling is achilles and not achillies, the incorrect spelling used in the internet address was not corrected to make it possible to call the website in question.
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| 41 |
Deviations in Radiometry
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In view of the fact that the age-results obtained with different radiometric methods show systematically significant differences for the same rock, there must be a source of systematic error inherent in either method of measurement and/or in the evaluation of the results.
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| 42 |
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS)
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Measurements by means of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) of carboniferous materials such as graphite, marble, anthracite and diamonds indicate an age of less than 90,000 years, despite an alleged age of many millions of years.
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| 43 |
Uranium, Helium and Lead in Zirconium
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Rock strata claimed to be thousands of millions of years old contain zircons, the age of which, based on their helium content, is probably only 4,000 to 8,000 years.
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| 44 |
Radioactive Decay to Lead
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Besides uranium-238, 52 other elements also decay to lead-206 (with a half life of several microseconds to several thousand years) which are not taken into account in the calculations used for conventional radiometry.
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| 45 |
Radioactive Decay at Plasma Temperatures
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When radioactive materials are heated to plasma temperatures, the half life of uranium-238, for example, falls from 4.5 billion years to only 2.08 minutes, contradicting the opinion that the half lives of the radioactive elements are constant.
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| 46 |
Uranium and Polonium Radiohalos
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The frequency of uranium and polonium radiohalos in the granites of the Palaeozoic / Mesozoic is evidence of one or more phases of temporarily accelerated radioactive decay.
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| 47 |
Helium from Inside the Earth
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Based on the heat radiating from the interior of the earth the amount of helium emerging from the inside of earth accounts for only 4% of the amount expected if the earth is 4.5 billion years old.
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| 48 |
The Earths Magnetic Field
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The measured decay of the the earths magnetic field indicates that the planet is less than 10,000 years old.
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| 49 |
Salt Mountains and Salt Content of Oceans
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If the current processes of import and export of salt to and from the worlds oceans would have lasted for 3.5 billion years, the oceans should now contain 56 times more salt than they actually do.
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Nickel in Seawater
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Calculations based on the amount of nickel transported annually by rivers into the worlds oceans and the current nickel content of the oceans indicate that the processes at work today could have continued for a maximum of 300,000 years.
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| 51 |
Petroleum, Coal and Petrified Wood
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The claim that the formation of oil, coal and petrified wood requires long periods of time has been refuted by experiments.
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