C-14
dating
There are other forms of radiometric dating, but
this article centred mostly on carbon (C-14) dating. Radiometric datings are
used to estimate the ages of fossils, and indirectly giving indication of the
broad age of the earth. If one finds a
billion years old object on earth, the reasonable extrapolation is that the
earth was in existence a billion years ago (assumption, the object did NOT come
from outer space).
Carbon-dating is
specifically used only on fossils, here taken to mean, remains from things that
were once organic, meaning it was alive, and fed, and the food could finally be
traced back to plants, through the food chain.
And so, it is NOT exactly to be used on rocks, but would be used on wood
fossils trapped in rock; and it is also used on animal or creature’s fossils,
trapped in rock, and even in ice. It can
also be used on very, very old trees. It
can be used on coal and diamonds, too, as these were fossilized from trees and
such. It is NOT used on rocks as such,
because of the inherent workings of the method – its very basis is radioactive
decay of C-14. This will be apparent
when we look at how carbon-dating works.
A little bit of science, first
Although I once
ambitioned to be a medical doctor, and I did NOT go that way, I was a “straight
As” Biology and Chemistry student in my college years. Until today, I still remember and understand
much about Biology and Chemistry stuff, including the basic structure of
matter.
The basic
building blocks of matter, element (we called it), are the atoms, and each atom
consists of protons and neutrons in the nucleus at the centre, and electrons,
orbiting the nucleus. When we talked about carbon-dating, we have to touch on
radioactive decay, and for this, we have to know what isotopes are. Isotopes are variants of an element. Each element has a definite number of
protons; for the element of carbon, it is 6. It is the no. of neutrons that can
differ; carbon can have 6, 7 or 8 neutrons.
Each of these combinations is called an isotope. Of the 3 isotopes of
carbons, C-12 (6 protons + 6 neutrons), C-13, and C-14, C-14 is radioactive,
and is subject to what we called radioactive decay.
Radioactive
decay happens at a consistent rate (fairly accepted), the measure used by
scientists, for this, is called the half-life.
When C-14 or the radioactive carbon is fully decayed, it turns into Nitrogen
(N). What is half-life? It is the time it takes for the isotope to be
half-decayed, and for C-14, it is 5,730 years.
Yes, it takes 5,730 years to decay by half; and for it to decay by
another half, to be ¼ left, it takes another 5,730 years (or another
half-life). This decay will go on and
on, until the C-14 is fully decayed into a Nitrogen atom (Nitrogen-14; 7
protons & 7 neutrons {1 neutron became the additional proton}).
The table below
shows the radioactive decay process, showing only the elapse of up to 7
half-lives. Starting with 100%, after 7 half-lives, the percentage remaining is
small, and after 10 half-lives, the decay is almost done, and what remains, may
NOT be detectable by present instrumentations.
Number
of
half-lives elapsed |
Fraction
remaining |
Percentage
remaining | |
0
|
1/1
|
100
| |
1
|
1/2
|
50
| |
2
|
1/4
|
25
| |
3
|
1/8
|
12
|
.5
|
4
|
1/16
|
6
|
.25
|
5
|
1/32
|
3
|
.125
|
6
|
1/64
|
1
|
.563
|
7
|
1/128
|
0
|
.781
|
Beyond 50,000 – 60,000 years, the methodology fails
60,000 years is
still a long time; Biblical indication is the earth is probably 6,000 – 7,000
years old! But at least, we know that
C-14 dating cannot be used to argue the earth could be millions of years old;
simply the method cannot measure beyond 60,000 years! Where does the notion of the millions of
years, if NOT billions, comes from?
Well, it came from the secular (evolutionary) worldview. The
evolutionary worldview interprets the universe and world to be billions of
years old (Today we won’t talk about this evolutionary worldview).
The faulty assumption?
To narrow down
further, and to explain there are assumptions made, in the use of C-14 decay in
the dating methodology, that can lead to inaccurate results, we need to
understand a little more of how the C-14 dating works.
I have explained
above that there are 3 isotopes of carbon naturally occurring: C-12, C-13, and
C-14. C-14 is the one which decays
whereas C-12 and C-13 are stable. We also have said that when fully decayed,
C-14 is changed into N-14. However, at
any point in time, in the air/environment, there is still a certain ratio of
C-14 to C (C-12 + C-13 + C-14). {C-13
could be omitted from the ratio}
Since C-14 is constantly decaying, will NOT the earth run
out of C-14, eventually; and at the meantime, the ratio would be diminishing? The answer is no, because C-14 is being added
into the atmosphere, even as it decays.
How is it added? The rays from the Sun which contain high levels of
energy bombard the earth’s upper atmosphere. These rays collide with atoms in
the atmosphere and can cause the neutrons from the atoms to come off. Such neutrons
could collide with Nitrogen-14 {7 protons & 7 neutrons} atoms (the
atmosphere, mostly of nitrogen and oxygen) and convert them into C-14 atoms (changing
a proton of N-14 into a neutron) {C-14 being with 6 protons & 8 neutrons}.
C-14 then combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide (CO2); which
gets incorporated into plants through photosynthesis, meaning, plant as food,
contains C-14 and the other Cs. Because
plant is at the base of the food chain, and as well as living things take in
air as they breathe, living things, as long as they are alive, they are having
the same ratio of C-14 to C, in them, as the atmosphere.
Now, I
said, at any point in time, there is still a certain ratio of C-14 to C. And so, if today, I take a sample from you,
and analyses it using AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometer), I will get a certain
ratio of C-14 to C. 3 years from now,
assuming you are alive, and I repeat the analysis, I will again get a
reading. This reading will be the same
as that taken 3 years ago, if the atmospheric C-14 to C ratio is still the
same, and the environment you in, has remained the same (without a nuclear
explosion, for example, for such would definitely change the C-14 to C ratio of
the air or environment). The C-14 to C
ratio in our body or that of any living thing gets refreshed all the time, and
if the environment is in a steady state, then, as long as a particular living
thing is still alive, the C-14 ratio is the same. It is the moment that the living thing dies,
that it stops taking in C-14 into his body; whatever C-14 in the body/fossil,
decays, without replacement. C-12 &
C-13 remained the same. Over time, the
C-14 ratio will decline to zero. Of
course, it will take a long, long time, since the half-life of C-14 is 5,730
years.
Now, if we
lengthen the time, and say, 2,000 years ago, I have taken a sample from a dying
tiger, and calculated the C-14 ratio, and kept it; and today, I dug up the fossil
of that tiger, and do another C-14 ratio, I would be come to the same
conclusion as my written record of the tiger’s death, that the tiger died 2,000
years ago, according to the extent of the radioactive decay of the C-14 in the
tiger.
In practice, the
problem is that no one took and kept the C-14 ratio records of the old fossils
(in those times, they died) which we discover or dig up, every now and then. To know the extent of decay, we need to know
the C-14 ratio at the time of death of the living thing, which I have said, in
all old fossils, we do NOT know, because there are no records. Scientists used the 1950 (that was the time
C-14 dating was adopted)’s C-14 ratio as the default ratio, assuming that, that
was and is the steady state C-14 ratio, of the atmosphere, across all time,
over all places! Now, that is a huge
assumption that can introduce miles of margin of error!
No, C-14 ratio, to start with, is NOT
constant across time and places
We will NOT go into great details, the factors that
point to huge margin of error possible, but here are a few of them, with simple
explanation:1. The production rate of C-14 is known to be 18.8 atoms per gram of total carbon per minute; and the decay rate is known to be only 16.1 disintegrations per gram per minute. It means C-14 ratio is on the rise. It means, ceteris paribus, C-14 ratio 5,000 years ago, was a much smaller number than the same, today. When we assume the starting C-14 of specimen at its death, the same as currently (or as the 1950’s standard), we will have inflated the extent of the decay by a huge margin, possibly tens of thousands of years!
2.
The
production rate of C-14 might have been varied or disrupted across time, even
as the atomic radioactive decay has remained the same. Remember now, we say C-14 was created through
the bombardment of cosmic energy rays on Nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere.
Solar flares across time could have affected this process. Any weakening of the
ozone layer over the Earth, could have also allowed more energy rays through
and greater C-14 could have been resulted.
If ozone has thinned, it means rate of C-14 production has increased
with time, meaning recent C-14 ratio would have been much higher than C-14
ratio of few thousand years ago. There is a magnetic field around the Earth
which serves to protect the Earth from harmful radiation from outer
space; and this field is also weakening or decaying. Scientists are now tracking this
weakening. When more rays got in, it
meant also that the production rate could have increased over time,
contributing to higher C-14, and so, it would lead to over-statement of the
extent of decay, and accordingly the age of the specimen in question. The
industrial revolution could have upset the C-14 ratio. Nuclear explosions affect the C-14 ratio of
the atmosphere, too.
3. The Genesis Flood (4,400-4,500 years ago?) was a massive event, and a divine event. What changes it introduced into the atmosphere and our entire ecosystem, no one could fully know, but it is possible many “forces” of nature could have been disrupted or recalibrated or re-entered into flux. For those of us who believe the accounts in Scripture, such a saying is entirely acceptable, for Bible even have an account that God stopped the Sun from setting for one day! The Flood was of epic proportion; not our usual heavy rain with flood following. In Genesis 7, we read that the floodgates of Heaven were opened, and all the springs of great depth burst forth, these lasted 40 days and 40 nights, with the entire earth submerged, eventually. The C-14 ratio prior to The Flood, during and after, could very well be very different. What actually happened in the atmosphere in those days, when the heavens were opened; who knows?! But obviously that Flood was an important cut-off.
Re-visits showed too much misrepresentation
More recent re-visits
of very old samples have shown many of the previous assertions of age of the
samples were erroneous. Scientists have reviewed
the assumptions used in estimating the ages of the samples.
For example,
fossilized wood samples from rocks which have been previously dated to be from
various ages of some tens to hundreds of millions years old (according to the
evolutionists), when re-tested showed significant, detectable levels of C-14,
meaning, they cannot be more than 60,000 years old.
Tests were done
on coal layers that, according to evolutionists, again dated millions to
hundreds of millions of years old, from samples collected from major coalfields.
The samples again were found to contain measurable amounts of C-14, meaning all
were within 60,000 years old.
Tests were also
done on diamonds, and C-14 was found in them! Diamonds have traditionally been considered
to be so old - millions to billions of years old, by evolutionary standards, these
results of finding C-14 in them would be strong support for a more recent
creation.
Refinement
of C-14 dating possible
Remember, we said that some 60,000 years is still
very far from the 6,000 – 7,000 years that the Bible is indicating to us, of
the age of the earth. Can C-14 be
refined to capture more accurately, the age of fossils or finds? The answer is yes, to some extent, at least for
things post the Genesis Flood, but it needs the scientific community to be
willing to work together to establish a series of re-calibrated C-14 ratios for
use. Let me explain a little:
The problem with the methodology is that we do NOT
know the C-14 ratio at the time of death of the living thing that has
fossilized. The use of 1950 or current
C-14 ratio is far from satisfactory; a better estimate of C-14 ratio to use (as
the C-14 ratio at the time of death), should be arrived. And it can be established with the help of
actual historical records; and the reason I said, “at least for things post the
Genesis Flood”, is because, most records would have been destroyed by the
Flood. If we can find some record of a
living thing existed and died, say, 5,000 years ago, and we also happen to have
the fossil on hand (maybe, the wood from a grave of a known age by historically
reliable document(s)), we can mathematically, work backwards to obtain the C-14
ratio of 5,000 years ago. Other objects with reliable historical documented
dates included the Dead Sea Scrolls, Minoan ruins and tombs of the pharaohs; these
could be used for calibration, too. Using a basket of such agreed C-14 ratios
would yield better results. For example,
for the more recent testing of the coal layers that was mentioned above, when
more realistic C-14 ratio (derived for period around the Flood) was used, the
ages of the coal deposits could be reduced to about 5,000 years, instead of the
60,000 years!
Today you know!
Knowledgeable and
truthful people have come to understand C-14 dating can be useful up to 4,000
to 5,000 years, using calibrated C-14 ratios (from objects/artifacts of known
age). Why 4,000 to 5,000 years only, is
because of the absence of reliable historical documents to help to work
backwards, C-14 ratio of periods further back than the 4,000 to 5,000 years
ago, and that was because of the Genesis Flood.
In any case, the greatest problem with radiometric dating, including
C-14 dating, is the absence of knowledge of the (starting) C-14 ratio in the
sample or fossil.
Some people go
to the extent of saying C-14 dating support the young-earth view (of 6,000-7,000
years old). I wouldn’t go as far as
that, for as said, there is always an unknown, the C-14 ratio, at the ancient
point in time. Any proxy we used, are
proxy calibrated from information of about 5,000 years old, and no older, and
so, the methodology is good only for time as far back as about 5,000 years. The
methodology is limited by the available proxies, but it does NOT point to the
earth is only 6,000-7,000 years old.
C-14 dating does NOT necessarily say that it is impossible that the
earth was in place earlier than 5,000 years.
The many ages,
given in textbook and journals, of old artifacts, etc, are in fact, men’s
subjective assignment of ages within the broader framework of evolutionary
geologic time scale framed by evolutionists.
The evolutionary worldview is quite well entrenched, and often people
just plucked in, those millions and billions of years period, into an article
of an old find, just to make the story, “sexy”.
What about the dinosaurs?
Are dinosaurs really of millions of years old, as we are commonly being told by the evolutionists, tacked along by the many so-called experts? Maybe, not, you-know! Here is an article you can read for yourself - http://www.icr.org/article/6084/
Anthony Chia, high.expressions – Dinosaurs mentioned in Bible, you-know!?
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