How to Determine the Actual Age of a Fossil
There are several methods that can be used to work out the age of a fossil. Since a fossil is an organism whose organic material has been replaced by stone, it cannot be dated using methods applied to living material. Because of this, scientists had to find other ways to determine when a fossil organism died. After much research, they came up with several fairly accurate dating techniques: radiometric dating, stratigraphy, paleomagnetism, and amino acid dating.
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Instructions
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Use the radiometric dating method to determine the age of a fossil. Check the decay rate of radioactive atoms. Measure the amount of stable and unstable atoms. Determine the age by calculating the decay rate and how long it would have taken the unstable atoms to decay into stable atoms.
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Study the stratigraphy of the rocks where the fossil was found. Determine the age of the fossil by its position in the layers of the rock. Conclude that the lower the fossil in the strata, the older it is. Date fossil relative to any known and dated layers, such as a volcanic eruption event that left a volcanic ash layer in the strata. Verify fossil against index fossils (fossils known to have existed at a certain time) that are found in the same area.
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Use the concept of paleomagnetism---the process of iron rocks maintaining a degree of magnetism over time and the way their magnetic elements line up. Take samples of the iron rocks that contain the fossil. Measure the amount of iron left in the rocks and the direction the iron particles have lined up, then date the fossil using a time calendar.
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Date the fossil using an amino acid dating method. Examine the configuration of the fossil's amino acid, which would change after the organism's death. Determine the configuration for the particular region the fossil lived in and how long it would have taken for the amino acids to change to the position they are in.
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Tips & Warnings
Sometimes more than one method needs to be used to accurately determine the age of a fossil.
Exercise extreme caution when dealing with radioactive materials.
