Correlation Among Various Radiometric Ages

The way radiometric dating works is that a parent element such as Potassium-40 (⁴⁰K) decays to a daughter element such as Argon-40 (⁴⁰K). The longer a rock containing ⁴⁰K remains in the ground, the more of it decays to ⁴⁰Ar. Geologists can determine how long a rock has been in the ground by measuring the ratio of ⁴⁰K to ⁴⁰Ar. K/Ar dating is just one of many radiometric dating techniques.There are a number of factors affecting the accuracy of radiometric dating, such as the presence of some daughter element when the rock first forms. Radiometric dating can only be effective when these factors are either absent or can be adjusted for.The accuracy of the dating methods has been confirmed generally by the law of superposition (deeper layers always date older), and by correlation with each other. For example, some rocks can be dated using both K/Ar and Rb/Sr dating. In addition there is the isochron dating technique that produces graphs of the correct structure only if the sample is radiometrically valid.Now that I've set a rough context, what is it specifically that you believe is the problem with radiometric dating?--Percy

Hi JesusFighter,Your message is a cut-n-paste from The Radiometric Dating Game. The Forum Guidelines require that you provide attribution.--Percy

They're at: They're just images of pages from Brent Dalrymple's book on the age of the earth. I've found them useful when addressing the argument that radiometric dating is unreliable and yields dates all over the map.--Percy