Dating Techniques

Question 1

What is Relative Dating?

Answer 1

Not getting an actual year, but trying to figure out if something is older or younger.

Question 2

What is an example of Relative Dating?

Answer 2

Stratigraphy - the study of layers.

Dark layers indicate fire; first evidence of fire goes back a million years.

Question 3

What Law deals with Relative Dating?

Answer 3

Law of Superposition; important when using the idea of index fossils; younger on top.

Question 4

What is a Biological Dating Technique?

Answer 4

Dendrochronology - ring tree dating. Works only in temperate regions, and needs live trees available in the cultural context.

Question 5

What are Dating Techniques based on Radioactive Decay?

Answer 5

K/Ar Dating - Volcanic activity; finds dates around human activity; half-life 1.25 billion years.
Ar/Ar Dating
C14 Dating - 60 000 years; half-life 5 730; precise date

Question 6

What Dating Technique is based on Radiation Damage?

Answer 6

Thermoluminescence - background radiation; used for hearths.

Question 7

What Dating Techniques are based on Geological Processes?

Answer 7

Paleomagnetic Dating - magnetic north is not a fixed point, heating causes molecules to arrange themselves toward magnetic north.
Archaeomagnetic Dating - cultural context used with the idea of magnetic north.