Describe the difference between relative dating and numerical dating. Which one do we use more and why? Discuss the various relative dating laws and what they mean. What do fossils tell us about the rocks we find them in? How do we use fossils in relative dating?
Describe the difference between relative dating and numerical dating. Which one do we use more and why?
Discuss the various relative dating laws and what they mean.
What do fossils tell us about the rocks we find them in? How do we use fossils in relative dating?
1. Geologists employ both relative dating and numerical dating to establish the age of rocks and geological events.
With relative dating, the sequence of events is established without providing a precise age. The oldest layer in an undisturbed rock layer is at the bottom, and the youngest layer is at the top, according to the principle of superposition. The law of cross-cutting relationships, which holds that any structure that cuts across a rock layer is younger than the rock layer itself, and the law of faunal succession, which claims that fossils in rock strata follow a predictable sequence, are further ideas employed in relative dating.
On the other hand, numerical dating is a technique that uses radiometric dating to determine the exact age of a rock or fossil. Radiometric dating determines how long has elapsed since an isotope was produced by measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes in a sample.
Because numerical dating offers a more specific and accurate age for rocks and events, we utilise it more frequently than relative dating. Relative dating is the sole choice in situations where numerical dating is not feasible.
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 3 steps
